The Dark Seeker Saga: Those Seeking Answers
by Nexanda77
Summary: It has been ten years since Aqua and Ven left Sora, Riku, and Kairi in Traverse Town and never came back. Now Sora is searching for answers, but he won't find them at home. The only thing left to do is to run away. "The answers you seek await you. Proceed if you believe you are strong enough." VenxZack SoKai AkuRoku Warnings: Yaoi and minor OCs SEQUEL TO MEKA
1. Discontentment

**As the summary said, this is a sequel. It is the second in The Dark Seeker Saga. I would highly recommend reading MEKA (the first fic in the series) before reading this one. However, if you want to be a rebel and not read them in order, here is a not so short summary of MEKA.**

_**After saving Ven in his home world of Carinol, Terra and Aqua bring him back to the Land of Departure to attend Master Eraqus' Keyblade Academy (MEKA). While staying with them, Ven slowly reveals his dark past; the death of his best friend, Tay, at the hands of the heartless and his abuse at the hands of Keric, the prince of Carinol. Ven gets on Master Eraqus' nerves numerous times with his affinity for swearing, and Aqua and Terra admit their feelings about each other in Traverse Town, but are too scared to start a romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Xehanort enters and hides in the Land of Departure, watching Ven and the others in secret while conspiring with Braig.**_

_**Master Yen Sid and Mickey meet with Master Eraqus explaining that Xehanort gave Ven the power of the keyblade with plans for using him to create the X-blade. Master Eraqus vows to keep Ven safe and Master Yen Sid and Mickey begin their search for Xehanort.**_

_**At the Olympus Coliseum, Ven meets Phil, Herc, and Zack. When Hades releases the Hydra they fight the monster, but in its final moments the Hydra knocks out the main pillar of the building and the whole thing tumbles down burying Ven and Zack in the rubble. Suffering from a concussion, Ven wakes up thinking Zack is Tay. After the others dig them out, Zack kisses Ven, but then leaves promising to return home without telling Ven where home is.**_

_**A few days later, Terra, Aqua, and Ven go to Agrabah where Ven almost immediately gets arrested for helping young streetrats Sora and Riku escape the police. Terra and Aqua go to the palace meeting the Sultan and his new advisor Jafar. They spring Ven and go to leave when the heartless, Kurt Zisa, appears. During the ensuing fight, Riku picks up Terra's keyblade accidentally giving himself the power of the keyblade. The trio brings Sora and Riku back to MEKA where they quickly adjust to their new family.**_

_**While Terra, Aqua, and Ven are in Atlantica, Terra and Aqua begin what they believe is a secret relationship when in fact Ven overhears them. At the same time, Sora and Riku meet Xehanort as they explore the Land of Departure. In Traverse Town, Ven meets up with Zack again admitting his feelings and finds out that Zack feels the same. They date but Zack isn't comfortable with being gay yet and avoids showing affection for Ven in front of others.**_

_**Ven confronts Master Eraqus about Master Yen Sid's cryptic statement that Ven's balance heart would bring about a change to the worlds that could be good or evil. Master Eraqus refuses to answer Ven's questions and Ven begins to pull away as his anger at his teacher grows. At the same time, Ven helps Jack Skellington believe in himself in Halloween Town and witnesses Mufasa's death in the Pride Lands.**_

_**Unbeknownst to our heroes, Xehanort joins forces with King Keric in Carinol to lure Ven back to the dark world with intentions of sowing seeds of darkness in him. Inside Ven's own mind he is confronted by Vanitas who urges Ven to do whatever he wants regardless of Master Eraqus's order to stay far away from Carinol.**_

_**After leaving Ven, Sora, and Riku with Donald and Goofy at Disney Castle, Terra, Aqua, and Master Eraqus go to Carinol only to be captured. Ven sneaks away and goes after them only to be caught as well by Keric. Ven is back in the hands of his abuser, but Ven fights his way out by giving into Vanitas and letting his darker half take control. Ven then goes on to save the others and seal the keyhole before leaving Carinol for good.**_

_**Ven pushes everyone away as he tries to cope with the abuse from Keric. Surprisingly, it is Sora and Riku who are the first ones to get Ven to talk about what happened after the ordeal. While they had been on Carinol, Terra and Aqua hadn't been discreet in their relationship, so Master Eraqus confronts them and subjects them to an uncomfortable conversation on how babies are made. Ven comes in and asks to speak only to Master Eraqus about what happened. Their conversation restores Ven's trust in his master and he begins to recover.**_

_**The next time Ven sees Zack they fight over Zack's uncomfortableness with their relationship and they break up. The next day Xehanort reveals himself to Ven and forces Ven to leave the Land of Departure by threatening Sora. In the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort tries to force Ven to create the X-blade. Xehanort ends up ripping Vanitas from Ven and leaves Sora and Ven who he thinks is close to death. Sora saves Ven by healing his heart and Ven wakes up taking them both back home. Xehanort follows them to the Land of Departure and fights Master Eraqus. Sora summons a keyblade revealing that Ven accidently gave him the power. Ven sleeps for days before waking with almost no memory of what happened. Master Eraqus reveals that he and Master Yen Sid have determined that Ven is the X-blade wielder who has the power to recreate the lost X-blade and bring Kingdom Hearts back to the world.**_

_**Zack and Ven make up and Zack uses hypnosis to help Ven regain his memories. It is then that Ven remembers that Xehanort had pulled Vanitas out of Ven's heart when he had refused to make the keyblade. Master Eraqus takes his apprentices to Radiant Garden to meet with Ansem the Wise who offers insight into the strange relationship between Ven, Vanitas, and Sora from their hearts all touching. While they are there they meet Braig and Terra and Aqua end up teaming up with him to confront a new threat, the Unversed. After saving Kairi from some of the new monsters, Aqua accidentally gives her the keyblade.**_

_**At the same time, Ven voices his opinion that contrary to what Ansem believes, he knows Vanitas won't hurt him. After a brief encounter with Lea and Isa, the keyblade wielders, with Kairi now one of them, return to MEKA. Braig goes to the Keyblade Graveyard to get an update from Xehanort. There he meets Vanitas and is sent back with Keric so the boy can become an apprentice to Ansem the Wise.**_

_**One month passes.**_

_**Terra and Aqua begin their Mark of Mastery Exam at Master Yen Sid's tower. Their exam is timed and inside a book where Master Yen Sid and Master Eraqus have combined their magic to create a world to test them in. All they are told is that part of the test will be individual and part will be done together.**_

_**Ven and Mickey accidentally send themselves shooting off into space with the Star Shard. They end up in the Dwarf Woodlands and save Snow White from possessed trees before shooting off with the Star Shard again. Master Eraqus is chasing after them but gets delayed by the Mad Trent unversed.**_

_**Terra and Aqua separately fight the Guard Armor heartless in their own tests and enter the woods. Aqua sticks to the path while Terra finds a shortcut and a young girl who asks him, "If the path you wander is dark and there isn't even moonlight to guide you, would you give up and lay down in the darkness?" He replies that he would never give up. They each come to a bridge with a boy who blocks their way. Terra immediately jumps into a fight with him and wins after a long tiring battle. Aqua talks instead of fighting and the boy let's her pass after asking her, "Would you give [your keyblade] up to save another?" To which she replies, after hesitating, that she would. Terra and Aqua work together to defeat the final boss, Chernabog, and finish the test.**_

_**Meanwhile, Ven and Mickey end up in Triton's throne room in Atlantica where they learn Queen Athena has been killed by a boy with a keyblade. Triton believes it to be Ven who killed his wife and proceeds to attack him, but Ven and Mickey get away with the Star Shard that takes them to Neverland. There, Vanitas shows up and taunts Ven into following him to the Keyblade Graveyard where he tries to make Ven fight so they will create the X-blade. Ven refuses to do anything but block Vanitas' attacks and is soon knocked down. Vantias finds he cannot hurt Ven because although they are separated, they are still connected. Ven even goes as far as to say that they need each other. Master Eraqus shows up and Vanitas leaves, but not before Ven calls after him that he'll find a way to save him. Master Eraqus takes Ven and Mickey back to Master Yen Sid's tower.**_

_**Terra and Aqua pass their test. While they learn the secrets told only to masters, Ven and the kids go to Traverse Town. Ven sneaks off with Zack and the two of the end up in Shibuya. There, they buy a pin for each other. Ven buys one for Zack called Blown Kiss and Zack buys one for Ven called Sexy D. Returning to Traverse Town, Master Eraqus discovers Ven had run off and grounds him. Ven doesn't get to see Zack until a week later when they all go to Cloud and Tifa's wedding. **_

_**The day after the wedding, Xehanort comes to MEKA and tries to take Ven. Aqua flees to Traverse Town with Ven and the children while Terra and Master Eraqus stay to fight. Xehanort takes over Terra's body and kills Master Eraqus.**_

_**In Traverse Town, Ven and Zack are away from the others when Vanitas comes saying he needs to form the X-blade with Ven before his own darkness destroys him. Zack fights in place of Ven, but is severely wounded. Ven saves Zack by agreeing to go with Vanitas. Ven tells Zack he loves him and gives him back the Sexy D pin so Zack will have something to remember him by. Ven leaves with Vanitas but not before Aqua jumps through the dark corridor as well. **_

_**At the Keyblade Graveyard, Aqua fights Terra-Xehanort until Terra's Lingering Will comes and takes over the battle. Elsewhere, Ven and Vanitas fight and forge the X-blade. Aqua fights Vanitas in Ven's body while inside his heart Ven takes the X-blade from Vanitas. Ven takes back control of his body, smashing the X-blade to pieces once more. When the smoke clears, Ven is still alive, but unable to be awoken. Aqua gives him to Mickey to take to Master Yen Sid while she goes to Terra's Lingering Will that tells her Terra-Xehanort is in Radiant Garden.**_

_**Master Yen Sid explains that Ven's heart is in another's heart and his body will sleep until it is returned. Aqua takes his body to MEKA which she transforms into a new castle with 13 empty white floors. She then goes to Radiant Garden to confront Xehanort. With Terra's help from inside, she is able to defeat Xehanort, but she ends up sacrificing herself and giving up her keyblade to save Terra from the Dark Realm. He, however, returns as Xehanort and is taken in by Ansem the Wise. **_

_**In the Dark Realm, Aqua gives up hope until she is saved by the light of her friends. She is led to the Dark Margin and there she leaves the keychain for Master Eraqus' keyblade, the keyblade that will unlock Ven's chamber, in the sand for the one who will wake Ven.**_

**And now the story picks back up, ten years later, with a boy who had once made a promise as a child to find his lost friends and is looking for a way to do just that…**

Chapter 1 _Discontentment_

Sora lies on his bed with his math book open on his stomach and his eyes staring at the ceiling above him. The old glow-in-the-dark stars that he and Riku had decorated their room with nearly ten years ago when they and Kairi had first moved in with Cloud and Tifa are still stuck in the same made up constellations. To outsiders, the stars are just a jumbled mess, but Sora and Riku can see the pictures they had made. There are birds in flight, a mama bear and her cubs, and an odd hybrid of a dog and cat that had gotten stuck with the childish name of Meow-Wow. Directly over Sora's head however are three stars grouped together that aren't any part of the other constellations. They'd put those stars up the day they'd made a promise as children to save their friends, Terra, Aqua, and Ven.

The anniversary of the day Sora, Riku, and Kairi came to Traverse Town had passed about a month ago and Sora has realized he has been thinking more and more about his missing friends in these last few weeks. His memories are fuzzy from the years that have passed. He remembers the sunshine and the gardens outside the castle they had all lived in. He remembers wooden swords and blanket forts. In all his memories, his friends faces are getting harder to make out, but their voices are still clear. Lost in thought, he stares at the three stars above him, until the sound of the bedroom door opening shakes him from his reminiscing.

"Meow-Wow doesn't have the answers to your math homework, Sora."

Propping himself up on his elbows, Sora sees Riku enter their room. "I wasn't looking at that one," Sora says gesturing at the silly constellation. He points to the three stars and says in a quieter voice. "I was looking at those."

Riku nods slowly and then turns away to busy himself with something in his hands. "What's that?" Sora asks closing his math book and putting it on the bed as he sits up.

"Chin up bar," Riku says showing Sora the black metal bar.

"Isn't that Zack's?" Sora says getting to his feet and standing next to Riku as he starts attaching it to the door frame.

Riku shrugs. "Yeah I got it from his room. It's not like he's here to yell at me for touching his stuff." He says the last part with a frown and pulls himself up.

Sora frowns as well, leaning against the wall as Riku continues his work out. If Zack had been home he would have bitten off Riku's head for taking the bar without asking, but Zack has been gone for months now and it doesn't seem he's coming back anytime soon. Ever since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had moved into Tifa and Cloud's house, Zack had been in and out. He would live with them for a year and then disappear for a month or two before coming back. It'd be eight months later and he'd be gone again giving them all only a day's warning and never an idea when he'd be back. He'd return battleworn and looking like he hadn't smiled in weeks. He never talks about where he goes or what he does, but everyone knows. He's looking for Ven.

Riku drops to the ground and rubs his biceps. "You want to give it a try?"

Sora looks critically at the bar. "Yeah…" He moves under the bar and reaches up wishing his skinny arms had the same defined muscles as Riku's. Still he manages to pull himself up, but with considerably more struggling than Riku. "Has Zack ever been gone this long?" Sora asks as he strains to do a second pull up.

He succeeds and drops to the ground as Riku says, "No. He's going on four months now."

"Do you think that means he found something?" Sora moves out of the way so Riku can have another turn.

"Don't know," Riku says and doesn't pause as he does three in a row. He then lets go and leans against the door frame. "What is there to find anyway?" He crosses his arms and frowns at the ground. Running a hand through his long silver hair, he says, "If he'd found Ven or the others he would have brought them right back here."

"Maybe he found a clue or a lead to what happened," Sora says. Riku makes a dismissive noise and goes back to the chin ups. However, before he can do one Sora grabs his arm and turns him around. "Don't you want to know what happened to them?"

"Of course I do," Riku says throwing off Sora's arm in annoyance. He turns away and his shoulders sag slightly. "But it's been ten years," he says quietly. "Maybe it's time to move on."

"Well I can't," Sora says and Riku glances at him. "I need to know what happened. I want to find them."

"I get that you want closure Sora, but what if you don't get the answers you want to hear?"

Sora bites his lip. After ten years it is hard to still be optimistic, but he isn't ready to let go of his hope. "I need to know."

Riku returns to the chin up bar and says, "You know, Zack's never talks to us about where he goes when he looks for Ven, but he might talk to Cloud or Tifa. If he's found any clue or something, they might know about it."

Sora nods thoughtfully as he moves to take his turn with the chin up bar. He pulls himself up and holds for a second before someone pokes him hard in the stomach and breaks his concentration. Kairi stands in the doorway giggling as Sora drops down and rubs his stomach with an indignant look.

"Is this what you boys have been doing instead of homework?" She asks shaking her head. Sora grins sheepishly and running a hand through the spiky hair on the back of his head. "You know we go on duty in ten minutes," Kairi says as she gets ready by putting her red hair up in a ponytail.

Riku groans. "Shit, I forgot we were working today. I told Marlene I'd keep her company on her shift at the hotel."

The three of them are part of the Defense Militia Leon had set up for the town. Most days they take pride in it as they are proud to play such a big role in keeping Traverse Town safe from the heartless, but every once in awhile their responsibilities get in the way of being normal teenagers.

"That's the second date you've canceled on her in a week," Sora says. "She's going to think you don't like her anymore." Riku shoots him a look and Sora smirks at him. Riku and Marlene have been going out for over a year now, but Sora has been teasing Riku about his infatuation with her since they were kids. Riku had begun doing the same to Sora about Kairi ever since Sora had admitted his crush a few years back.

"You could cover for me," Riku offers hopefully, looking between his two best friends.

Sora and Kairi exchange a look. "Nope!" They say in unison and smile when Riku glares at them.

"Just go see her when we're done," Kairi says. "Now come on!" Kairi grabs both their arms and drags them out of their room and downstairs. They pass Tifa and Cloud in the bar and wave to them as they hurry out. Leon is coming out of the Third District with his gunblade in hand and catches sight of them.

"Heartless have been popping up all day there," Leon says jerking his thumb behind him. "I'll be back to take over in three hours. Don't slack off." He departs without another word, headed to the 7th Heaven. He hasn't been himself ever since Yuffie had moved out telling him she wasn't going to wait around forever if he was never going to ask for her hand. Needless to say it has been awkward with both of them in the Militia. They don't talk, just stare daggers at each other, whenever they have meetings.

Leon disappears into the bar and Sora, Riku, and Kairi turn to the big double doors. Each holds out a hand and their keyblades appear. Kairi's is slender and gold with flowers wrapped around the hilt. As fragile as it looks, it is wickedly sharp and Kairi can put a whole lot of power behind it when she fights. Riku's keyblade has a more bulky shape with a thick red and blue blade set with a pure white angel wing on the end. Sora's is the most simplest out of the three with a plain handle and a straight silver blade. The teeth of his key are made to resemble the crown necklace he always wears around his neck.

Keyblades in hand, they enter the Third District keeping their eyes peeled for heartless.

…

"Take that!" Sora shouts as he whips his keyblade around and slices through a Soldier heartless that offers no resistance. He smirks to himself at the destruction of the weak heartless and turns back around to scan for more threats. Kairi is jumping around lightly as she attacks the back of a Large Body. The lumbering heartless keeps trying to turn its protected front side towards her, but each time it tries, she darts around to its back once more. Seeing Kairi is easily holding her own, Sora runs to the far side of the Third District square where Riku is fending off a hoard of Shadows.

The little things are quick and keep flattening to the ground each time Riku lunges at them. Eventually, Riku catches one of them with his keyblade and launches into a short combo to take it down. He fails to realize one of the black spots on the ground moving behind him and the Shadow pops back up with its claw like fingers stretched towards Riku's unprotected back.

However, it also fails to notice its attacker from behind. Sora knocks the Shadow to the ground and stabs through it with his keyblade before it knows what hit it. Riku glances over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow in a silent question of 'what did I miss?' He refocuses on the heartless as they all pop back up and advance at the two keyblade wielders at the same time.

"Thunder!" Sora shouts and bolts of lightning strike three of the five remaining heartless making them writhe in pain. At the same time, Riku cuts horizontally with his keyblade sending the two other heartless flying back. The weak heartless stand no chance against them and one after another they are cut down. The final one is swaying, barely able to stand, but before Sora can land the final hit, Kairi comes up behind it and stabs her keyblade through it, causing it to disappear.

"Nice work."

The three turn to see Leon walking through the doors that lead to the First District with his eyes scanning the area for more heartless. "How many did you kill?"

Both Sora and Kairi look to RIku who is the only one out of them who ever remembers to keep count. "37. They came in six waves. The last one was the biggest," he says.

Leon nods, making a mental note of the number. He keeps track of the number of sightings and where they occur and throws it all into a computer program Cid had created that spits out predictions of heartless activity in the next few days. It is kind of like a weather report. Not always accurate, but generally in the ballpark.

"Now that that's done," Riku says rolling his shoulders and making his keyblade disappear. "I have a girlfriend to apologize to. I'll see you all later."

"Say hi to Marlene for us," Kairi calls after him and he nods before taking the stairs to the entrance of the Second District two at a time. Leon mutters something about checking on the status of the Second District before following Riku out of the Third District, leaving Sora and Kairi alone.

Silence falls on the two of them as they both let their keyblades disappear. Sora shifts awkwardly, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. "I guess we should head back home."

Kairi nods. "Yeah, you need to get back and finish your math homework."

Sora groans as they walk back to the First District. He hates math with all the numbers and letters jumbled together in a mess he could never muddle through. Most nights he complained until Riku gave in and helped him, but Riku is off with Marlene meaning Sora is on his own with the dreaded derivatives. He walks into the 7th Heaven after Kairi and sees only Cloud inside, cleaning the surface of the bar.

Cloud looks up when they walk in. "Tifa could use a hand in the back with inventory if one of you isn't busy."

"I'll help her," Kairi says before Sora can jump at the chance of getting out of his homework. She goes through the swinging door to the kitchen and Cloud returns to wiping the bar.

Sora starts to slowly drag his feet in the direction of the stairs that lead to his room upstairs, but before he reaches them he remembers Riku's advice. Math homework forgotten, he turns to Cloud. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Those glasses need to be dried and put away," Cloud says nodding to the wet glasses next to the sink.

Sora grabs a clean rag and starts to dry a glass. As he works, he sneaks glances at Cloud, trying to muster the courage to ask. They've been working in silence for several minutes before Sora says hesitantly, "Cloud?"

The half grunt he gets in response lets him know Cloud is listening. "I was just wondering, does Zack ever talk about where he goes when he disappears?"

Cloud freezes for a moment, his eyes hardening slightly. He resumes cleaning the bar as he says, "No. Why do you ask?"

Sora shrugs. He knows he is treading into dangerous territory, but he isn't about to back down. "I was just thinking that since he's been gone so long he might have found something this time. You know, something about Master Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and Ven."

Cloud drops the cloth and turns to face Sora who sets down the glass he has been wiping. "You think there is something to find?"

"There has to be something," Sora says. "They can't have just disappeared without a trace."

"It's been ten years Sora…"

"I know!" Sora says it louder than he means to. He ducks his head and says, "Riku said the same thing." He glances up at Cloud. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't look for them." Cloud frowns and Sora looks down again. "I feel like I abandoned them because I never tried to find them. I…I want to go help Zack find them." He bites his lip knowing he can't take those words back. He waits with tense muscles and his eyes trained on Cloud, waiting for a response.

"Sora." Cloud sighs. "Have you ever seen Zack when he first comes home?"

Sora nods. Zack would show up late at night with his clothes torn and stained with blood from wounds bound with dirty rags. A shower later and some of Aerith's healing magic and he'd look more like himself, but it was hard for Sora to erase that first image of him from his mind.

"The worlds out there are more dangerous than this town," Cloud says going back to wiping the bar, but Sora can tell he is only doing it to keep his hands busy as he keeps wiping the same spot. "The few heartless that we get around are nothing compared to what's out there."

"So you're saying I couldn't handle it."

Cloud turns to him and his eyes have an angry light. "Sora, you are only fifteen. You may be a keyblade wielder, but a powerful weapon isn't enough to make up for the fact that you lack experience."

"And I'm supposed to get experience around here?" Sora asks glaring at Cloud. "Fighting the same heartless over and over? Ven was my age when he was traveling to different worlds and fighting huge heartless. He might have only been fifteen, but he took on Xehanort-"

"And look where that got him." Cloud throws down the cloth and his voice takes on a sharp edge. "He wasn't invincible and neither are you. Zack's thrown his life away chasing the past. I don't want you to end up the same."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Sora shouts. He can't help the angry boiling up inside him. "I'm not a child anymore. And I wouldn't be throwing my life away, I'd be searching for people I care about. Why don't you understand that I need to do this?"

"Sora." Cloud puts a hand on his shoulder, but he throws it off and turns away. Angry, Cloud grabs his shoulder and spins him back around, refusing to loosen his grip. "I am trying to protect you," he says in a strained voice.

"I don't need your protection," Sora shouts and pushes Cloud away. "I need answers."

He turns away from Cloud to see Tifa and Kairi standing beside the kitchen door with looks of shock on their faces. Sora is never one to yell or be angry. He is slightly embarrassed to be seen like this by Kairi, but his anger overpowers his embarrassment and without a glance back, he leaves the bar, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

**And here we go again…**

**:) **

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you all already know but I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Never have never will. **

**Moving past that depressing thought...Welcome to the second installment of **_**The Dark Seeker Saga**_**! I'M SO EXCITED! It's kind of weird to be back at chapter one, but it's also really really awesome. **

**Don't forget to favorite and follow! Oh, and leave a review. All the cool kids are doing it.**


	2. Promises to Keep

Chapter 2 _Promises to Keep_

Riku sits on the front desk of the town's motel waiting for Marlene to return from delivering towels to one of the guests. He looks up as she comes back down the hallway in a grey skirt with a pink bow belt and a matching pink sleeveless top. Riku gives her his sweetest smile, but she only frowns at him a moment before turning away from him and busying herself behind the computer monitor on the other side of the desk.

"Aw, c'mon Marlene," Riku says leaning closer to her, but she doesn't look at him, brushing a strand of her soft brown hair behind her ear. She'd gotten tired of people telling her how similar she and her mother Aerith looked and started wearing her hair down instead of in a braided style. "I said I was sorry. I didn't want to stand you up, but I had to go on duty." She glances slightly at him and he can tell she is trying hard to still look mad at him. She turns away to go into the small back room behind the front desk, but Riku grabs her hand. She fixes him with an annoyed expression, but he still smiles at her, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. "I tried really hard to get out of it, but Sora and Kairi refused to cover for me and let me sneak away."

Any regret he feels for throwing his friends under the bus disappears when Marlene gives up pretending to be mad and smiles at him. His grin gets bigger and he pulls her closer as he hops down off the desk on her side. "Don't think I've forgiven you yet," Marlene says as they intertwine their fingers. "That makes two dates that you've messed up this week. You have a lot to make up to me."

"Oh yeah?" Riku says moving a hand to her cheek and gently tracing her jaw bone.

"Yeah," Marlene says reaching around his neck and pulling his lips to hers as she tangles his fingers in his hair. Riku kisses her back as he moves his hands to her hips and pulls her right up against him.

Their is cut short by the soft sound of a throat clearing and they break apart to see Aerith has entered the motel. Blushing, Marlene pulls out of Riku's hands and quickly returns to working on the computer. Riku looks to Aerith who is looking at him in slight disapproval. "Riku, I'm going to have to throw you out if you keep distracting my daughter from her work."

"Yes, ma'am," Riku says. Like her daughter, Aerith finds she can't stay mad at Riku for long and eventually gives up and smiles. Secretly, she is very happy that Marlene is dating Riku as she knows he is very good to her.

Turning to Marlene, Aerith says, "There's an older man in the First District who cut himself on some carpentry tools. Would you like to take care of it?"

Marlene's eyes light up right away and she nods. Aerith is the town's healer because of her powerful magic and in the last few years she has been teaching Marlene to follow in her footsteps. While she is not as good as her mother, Marlene is already becoming very impressive with magic. Riku, Sora, and Kairi know elemental magic from lessons with Merlin, but none of them are as good of healers as Aerith and Marlene.

A guest comes to the desk, but Aerith takes care of it motioning for Marlene to go as she moves to the guest's room to deal with whatever problem has arisen. "I'll be right back," Marlene says giving Riku a light kiss on the cheek before hurrying out the door.

Riku hops back up to his original position, seated on the desk facing the door. He stares out the window in the door half lost in thought as he waits for Marlene to come back. A minute later he sees Sora enter the First District at a furious pace and Riku can tell from the look on his face that he is upset.

Riku jumps down from the desk and hurries out the door, chasing Sora as he heads down the stairs that lead to the fountain and the lower part of the Second District. "Sora! Wait up," Riku calls and Sora pauses, turning to face him in the middle of the stairs. His arms are crossed and his eyebrows are angled down angrily. "What happened?" Riku asks.

"Cloud and I had a big fight," Sora mumbles out keeping his eyes trained on a spot to the left of Riku.

"Why?"

"I asked him if Zack ever talks to him about his search for Ven," Sora says angrily. "He said he didn't and then he got mad when I said I wanted to go looking for Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Master Eraqus as well."

"What else did he say?" Riku asks.

"He said that I wasn't ready to go out in the worlds," Sora's voice started to rise in anger. "That I don't know what's out there. But I don't care if it's dangerous. I can't sit around doing nothing anymore."

Riku is worried about how he is talking and tries to calm him down. "Sora-"

"I know you're on his side," Sora says, cutting him off. "You, Cloud, and everybody else has given up on them. They're our family, Riku, and they need us. You might be too afraid to leave this town, but I'm not. I'm leaving, first chance I get."

He starts to storm off down the stairs. "Sora," Riku says following him. "Where are you going?"

"The training room," Sora says with his back to Riku as he stalks to the doors that lead to the Back Alley and throws them open. "Alone," he adds slamming the doors behind him.

Riku takes a step forward to go after him, but stops. Sora is too angry right now to listen to anyone. It would be best to let him cool off a little before resuming this conversation. After all, it isn't like there is actually a way for him to leave Traverse Town like he had threatened to. The only person Riku knows who ever left is Zack, but nobody knows how he does it. Terra and the others had been able to do it as well, but according to Merlin they used a special kind of magic only a keyblade master could teach. Satisfied that Sora's words are only talk and nothing more, Riku heads back to the motel, hoping Marlene has returned as well.

…

Sora has come to the same understanding as Riku that, despite his intentions, he can't go looking for his friends as he has no way to travel to other worlds. Sighing, he leaves the training room where he had stabbed, sliced, and fought his anger away sparring with dummies. He goes back to the fountain in the Second District and stares at his reflection in a depressed silence.

Remembering the legend of the wish granting fountain, he digs through his pockets until he finds what he is looking for. Pulling out a small coin, he hesitates. It seems rather childish to be making wishes in an old fountain, but he has no other options. Closing his eyes, Sora flips the coin into the fountain. _I want to help my friends. They've been gone for so long and I want to bring them back. But...I'm stuck here. My wish is for a way to leave this world and search for them. _He starts to open his eyes, but stops. _Oh, and if Kairi could like me back that would be great too. _Satisfied with his wishes, he opens his eyes and looks at his coin resting on the bottom with a hundred others.

A hand on his shoulder and a gruff voice in his ear makes him start. "What're you up to, kid?"

"Nothing," Sora says turning to the older blond man. He shifts uncomfortably under Cid's gaze.

Cid raises an eyebrow at him. "Nothin'? If it was nothin' I don't think you'd be throwing coins in that fountain." Sora doesn't reply, looking down at his shoes. He could tell Cid what he'd been wishing for, but he isn't in the mood for someone else to tell him he is being stupid or delusional. "Alright," Cid says. "You don't have to tell me about this 'nothin'. I got the gist from Tifa when she came to the shop looking for ya. Said you and Cloud had a real big fight and she wanted you to come back and talk it out."

"I'm not going home," Sora says not caring if he sounded like a bratty child.

Cid studies him for a long moment. "I ain't goin' to make ya," he says and starts walking towards his house on the far side of the district. "C'mon," he calls over his shoulder. "I got some junk in the workshop I could use a hand with."

Curious, Sora runs to catch up with him. Cid is always working on some interesting invention and Sora loves when he gets asked to help him. Cid's house is under the bell at the far end of the district and he throws open the doors, ushering Sora inside. As always, the inside is spotless thanks to Cid's maid without whom the house would become a pigsty. Stomping across the hardwood floors, Cid goes to the fireplace and pulls on a candlestick that is actually a disguised lever.

Sora grins as the wall beside the fireplace slides open to reveal a hidden elevator. Standing inside, Sora shifts impatiently from one foot to the other while Cid punches in an access code. The doors close and the elevator begins its descent at a speed just short of freefall. Sora's stomach settles back into place as the elevator slows to a stop and the doors open to Cid's underground workshop.

The main room is huge with ceilings towering at least 30 feet over his head. It is brightly lit by large overhead fluorescent lights. Hangar doors line the walls, leading off to rooms holding Cid's larger inventions. Tables, chairs, and shelves litter the room with every available space is covered by greasy mechanical parts, messy hand written diagrams, and enough random junk to open a landfill.

"Alright, take a seat kid," Cid says heading over to one huge table piled high with parts for the automated threat response system. For years Leon has been pushing for a hybrid robotic and magic defense system for the town so the Defense Militia wouldn't be as needed. Despite being in the works for so long, the project is still uncompleted, but not for lack of trying on Cid and Merlin's part. Sora has lost count of the number of the prototypes Cid had built, tested, and thrown in the failure pile.

Moving a toolbox from a stool to the ground, Sora sits across from Cid as the older man mutters to himself, looking critically at the blueprint spread out on the table. "Get me a screwdriver, would ya?" Cid says and Sora quickly pulls one from the toolbox and hands it over. Cid starts taking apart the small white robot that had been the most recent failure while he says, "So tell me what's goin' on Sora? Where's all this runnin' off stuff comin' from?"

"I dunno," Sora says fidgeting with a small cracked propeller he found. "I've always thought about it, I just never said anything. Everytime Zack would disappear I'd wish he took me with him."

"You've seen Tifa and Cloud when he does that," Cid says pointing at a bolt lying on the table. Sora picks it up and hands it to him. "Ya really want them to go through all that worry for you too?"

Sora frowns. "No." He gets to his feet and starts to walk around the room, peering at the broken inventions scattered around. "I just...I'm a keyblade wielder," he says turning back to Cid who puts down his tools and gets to his feet. "I'm supposed to be a hero," Sora says staring angrily down at his shoes. "I'm supposed to save people. How can I claim any of that if I leave my friends lost wherever they are?"

"Sora." He looks up as Cid puts a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to be takin' on so much responsibility," Cid says. "I'm sure Eraqus and the others wouldn't want you-"

The shrill ringing of the phone on Cid's workbench cuts him off. Cursing, he turns away from Sora and picks it up. "Yeah?" He listens for a moment and his expression darkens. "What?" He listens again. "Fuck." He grabs the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there." He slams the phone back down on the receiver. "Idiots."

"What's that all about?" Sora asks.

"The ass I hired to look after the shop had the bright idea of giving all the Moogles coffee and now they're terrorizing the store on a goddamn caffeine high," Cid says and Sora can't help but laugh. He muffles it behind his hand as Cid glares at him. "I gotta take care of this," Cid says stomping towards the elevator. "Don't move. You're not getting off that easy. I'll be back as soon as I get this shit straightened out." He punches the button and the doors open. Stepping inside, he sticks his head back out. "And don't break anything."

"I won't," Sora says. The elevator doors close and Cid is whisked upwards leaving Sora alone. He wanders around the room occasionally picking up parts or broken prototypes to examine them, but none can hold his attention. All he can think about are his friends. Images flash before his eyes of them in dark cold places unable to get home. He blinks away such thoughts and something red catches his eye through one of the hangar doors left open just a crack.

Curious, he makes his way over and pulls them open. "Woah…" He stands, stunned, staring mouth opened at the large red rocket ship sitting in the center of the room. He'd seen most of Cid's inventions, but this one is brand new to him. He walks over to it slowly and, still gaping, runs a hand along its sleek and shiny side. He stops next to one of the white wings and tilts his head slightly to read the name painted on the side.

HIGHWIND - GUMMI SHIP #1

Turning away from the ship, Sora goes to the large whiteboard with Cid's messy scrawl all over it. "The Gummi Ship," he reads. "First of its kind. Designed for interworld travel in ultimate comfort." He scans over the rest of the information until his eyes rest on large block letters written in red. "Remains untested."

Walking back to the ship, he makes his way around it to the far side where the door is open and steps lead up to it. Looking over his shoulder and praying the problems at the store would keep Cid occupied for a few minutes more, he runs up the steps and enters the cockpit. He slowly spins on the spot taking in everything. There is one captain's chair at the front with two co-captains' chairs on either side. On the back and side walls are built in chairs equipped with seat belts, enough for eight passengers. Moving to the captain's chair, Sora sits gingerly and looks at the controls in front of him in confusion. There are gauges that say things like armor strength and fuel. Buttons of every color, and mostly unlabeled, blink randomly at him. To the right of the steering wheel is a screen that comes to life when Sora touches it. It reads, "Connected to Traverse Town Home Terminal. Would you like to depart?"

Sora sits back in the chair, running a hand through his hair, slowly coming out of the state of shock he has been in since first opening the hangar doors. Here it is, just waiting for him. It is his way to leave Traverse Town and travel to other worlds. Sora reaches out to press the Yes button on the screen, but hesitates, suddenly nervous. Is he really ready to leave Traverse Town? Cloud is right, he doesn't know what's out there. It is dangerous, it is stupid, but as he sits there with his finger hovering over the button a promise he had made a long time ago echoes in his ears.

_"Well, if they can't find their way back to us, than I'll just have to go find them."_

He presses the button.

Outside the ship alarm bells start to ring in the hangar and red lights begin to flash. Sora glances behind him to see the door of the ship shut automatically as the whole ship starts to shake. Gripping the arms of his chair, Sora can't help but gasp as the floor under the ship starts to rise, taking it towards a tunnel in the ceiling that had opened when the alarms had started. Soon the ship is plunged into the total darkness of the tunnel with the alarms wailing faintly below. The light of the moon in the sky hits the ship as the platform lifts it out into the center of the Second District where a secret hatch had opened to let it up.

The platform grinds to a halt and for a moment there is silence before the engines on either side of the ship come to life. The screen blinks and changes. "Hold on tight. Launching in 10."

Sora quickly buckles himself in and grips the steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles turn white.

The screen blinks. "9….8..."

The ship shudders again as the platform turns and the front side lifts slightly to a 45 degree angle.

"7…..6…."

"Sora!" Riku's shout is muffled by the roar of the engine, but Sora looks out the window to see Riku and Marlene standing in the doorway of the hotel, staring at him with dumbfounded expressions.

"5….4…."

Cid bursts back into the Second District and takes in Sora in the cockpit of the gummi ship in a half a second before he starts to run towards him.

"3…..2…."

"Stop Sora!" Cid shouts waving his arms.

Sora gives him an apologetic smile before turning his eyes back to the stars. "I have to do this."

"1."

The engines roar and the lights in the cockpit dim. A scream of fear and excitement is ripped from Sora as the ship blasts off into the sky. He is pressed back into the seat by the force of the speed it flies at.

In seconds, he is far away from Traverse Town, flying through space as the ship slows down. The engines become quieter and Sora uncurls his fingers slightly from their vice grip on the steering wheel. He leans forward eagerly taking in with amazement the view of the worlds before him. He stares spellbound for a moment before realizing the ship has slowed to a crawl. It takes him a minute to find the thruster and once he does he experiments until he finds a good speed.

As he settles comfortably into flying the ship, a beeping sound fills the cockpit. He frowns, seeing a green button next to the screen start to blink excitedly. He presses it and a video call opens on the screen. He jumps, finding himself under Cid's angry glare.

"Damn it Sora," Cid says."What the hell are you thinking?"

There is a commotion behind Cid and then Cloud is coming into the image with Riku, Kairi, and Tifa following him. "Turn that thing around right now, Sora," Cloud growls.

"Sora, please," Tifa says looking desperately at him. "Don't do this. It's not safe."

Sora feels a twinge of guilt at the worry in her voice, but still he says, "I'm sorry" and hits the red button next to the screen making it go black for a moment before coming up again now showing a radar sweep of the area around the ship. He sighs, leaning back in the chair. He tells himself again that he is doing to right thing, but however much he loathes to admit it, he's scared.

The beeping of another video call starts up and he hits the red button, ignoring the call. After a quick search of the menus on the screen, he disables the video call feature so he doesn't have to hear that beeping and feel the guilt. A different beeping sound starts, this one coming from the radar, and Sora looks up to see a world in the distance.

He angles the ship towards it and gapes in wonder as he gets close enough to see trees covering the whole world on one large jungle. Fascinated by it, he doesn't realize how close he is to the world until a warning bell starts to wail in the ship. The altitude gauges start to spin around and more alarms start to ring. Clutching the steering wheel, Sora tries to pull the nose of the ship up, but it is still heading towards the ground.

Sora scans the buttons frantically, but doesn't know what any do. "Where the hell is the landing gear!" He shouts out loud as he slams his hand down on random buttons. The ship starts to spin out of control and he clutches the wheel again bringing it back straight, but straight is headed right for a tree and with a final cry he covers his head the ship slams into the trees. Glass breaks and metal screeches as he is sent lurching forward, feeling the seatbelt digging into his torso. He is slammed back in the seat by an airbag exploding from the steering wheel and all the breath is knocked out of him. Stars explode in his eyes and for a moment everything is out of focus before the blackness on the edges of his vision creeps in as he falls unconscious.

* * *

**So Sora isn't off to that great of a start on this adventure of his...**

**Attention all you fans of the Zactus pairing. LightzMusic22 wrote a one shot called **_**Hopeless Miracles **_**about them that is fluffing awesome. I meant to mention it before, but I forgot so I'm saying it now. GO CHECK IT OUT!**

**Thank you TopazDragon98, AquaTitaniaMiyuki, CatLoverx33, LightzMusic22, and Dream For Tonight for your reviews of the first chapter. I'm so glad you're all excited for this story because I'm super excited!**

**Yay! First cliffhanger of the sequel! :) Review to find out what happens next!**


	3. Deep Jungle

Chapter 3 _Deep Jungle_

Sora groans as he is pulled from unconsciousness by the sunlight turning the insides of his eyelids red. He shifts around in his chair and the sound of shards of glass clinking together wakes him fully. He opens his eyes slowly, blinking in confusion at the smashed in windshield and the broken glass in his lap. Carefully brushing the shards off, he tries to sit up straighter, but falls against the backrest again with another groan. His back and neck are killing him and a headache pounds mercilessly against his skull, making it hard to think through what is going on. He raises a hand to rub his temple and pulls it back to see blood on it. Touching his head gingerly, he can feel a shallow cut and the piece of glass that had caused it still caught in his skin.

There had been a crash, that much he remembers. He remembers flying the gummi ship to the world and the moments before hitting the tree. Everything after that had happened too quickly leaving it all just a blur.

Biting his tongue against the pain, he unclips the seat belt and winces as he rubs the bruise it had left across his chest. Despite the protests from his body, he pushes himself out of his seat. Once upright, he says, "Curaga," and sighs in relief as the soothing green light falls on him. Stretching his sore but no longer painful legs, he walks to the door of the ship. Opening it, his eyes get huge as he looks down at the ground very far below. The ship had crashed into nearly the top of the tree and only thick branches underneath the hull are keeping it from falling to the forest floor.

Sora grips the door frame, afraid to move and knock the gummi ship off its precarious perch. From this vantage point he can see that the forest around him looks wild, as if no human had ever been here before. It is very beautiful and Sora smiles despite his situation seeing colorful birds chirping as they take flight from a nearby tree. He'd done it. He'd left Traverse Town and traveled to a new world. It hadn't been his plan to get stuck up a tree however and he scans his eyes around for a way down. A sturdy looking vine hangs not to far from the ship. "Magnet," Sora says, holding out his hand as the vine is pulled towards him by the spell. Gripping it tightly with both hands, Sora takes a deep breath and steps off the ship, wrapping his legs around the vine as well as it swings.

Moving carefully he starts to slide down the vine. He figures the ship is at least a hundred feet in the air and he groans, wondering how he is ever going to get it down much less repair it so it can fly again. But the first thing he has to do is figure out where he is because, even with so much having gone wrong already, Sora is excited and curious to explore a new world.

His feet touch the forest floor and he releases the vine, looking around. All there is to see is green. Sora has never seen so many plants in his life. He'd spent most of his life in Traverse Town. As a city boy, he's completely lost in the wild jungle. He starts to walk off in an aimless direction, but stops, some instinct in him is warning there is danger near.

He looks around again and sees nothing, but the feeling doesn't go away as he strains his ears in the silence for the sounds of an enemy approaching. That's it! The silence. There had been birds chirping before, but it is as if they all had fled the immediate area, leaving this strange quiet in their wake. Now on high alert, Sora summons his keyblade and grips it tight. To his right, the leaves tremble slightly and he whirls around. He waits, hearing only the blood pounding in his ears. Then the rustling comes from behind him. Spinning around, he raises his keyblade in a block, but still he sees nothing. The rustling continues, always in a different spot and causing Sora to turn in circles as his fear grows. This isn't a heartless stalking him. Heartless aren't smart enough to be this stealthy.

Sora is about to make a run for it when a leopard, nearly six feet in length, jumps out of the vegetation with its claws out and aimed at his throat. With a gasp, Sora brings his keyblade up in a block and is sent tumbling back by the impact of the beast crashing into him. Rolling to his feet, Sora falls into a battle position, never taking his eyes off the leopard which has started to circle him. Sora swallows, but shakes off his fear and points his keyblade at the leopard shouting, "Fira!"

The fireball knocks the leopard back a few steps, but when the smoke clears its unhurt except for a singed coat. Growling in anger, the leopard bunches up its back legs before charging with incredible speed at Sora. Sora tries to dive out of the way, but cannot match the speed the leopard can move at. The leopard's claw catches him as he tries to get out of the way and white hot pain drags across his chest as the claw shreds through his shirt. Holding a hand over his chest, Sora feels the warm blood under his fingers and panic starts to set in as he realizes just how far out of his element he is.

The leopard charges again and Sora is in no shape to dive out of the way this time. He swings his keyblade desperately at the beast and succeeds in landing a hit across its nose that leaves a deep cut, but the leopard reacts quickly, tossing its head and sending Sora tumbling to the ground. He lands on his shoulder and gasps in pain as the scratches on his chest throb.

He is slow to get up and is only in a sitting position when the leopard charges again. He can sees its teeth, wickedly sharp and bared. There is a murderous light in its eyes as it lunges for Sora's neck and he raises his keyblade in a feeble block.

Just as the leopard is about to bite him, it is suddenly knocked away from him by a man swinging down on a vine and crashing into the monster. The man drops onto all fours with a spear in one hand as the leopard gets back up and lets out a howl. The man howls back with a animalistic sound that makes Sora flinch away from the both of them.

The leopard leaps at the man who brings up his spear to catch the beast's terrifying bite. They wrestle for a moment, each pushing on each other in a battle of strength. The man wins and with another grunting howl, he throws the leopard back. It lands with a small noise of pain and as soon as it is back on it's feet in runs off, disappearing into the thick jungle.

"Curaga," Sora says and feels the scratches on his chest heal. He gets to his feet and finds himself under the wary stare of the man who Sora realizes is dressed only in a loincloth. His eyes have a wild animal look to them as he looks over him and Sora could have sworn he sniffed in his direction.

"Sabor, danger," the man says in a rough voice looking to where the leopard had disappeared.

"Um...thank you," Sora says still not sure this man is friendly.

"Thank you," the man repeated as if he was testing out the words.

Confused and suddenly not so keen to be exploring this jungle, Sora looks back at the gummi ship still stuck in the tree. He isn't leaving anytime so he might as well get back to his original plan. "Uh, what is this place?"

The man tilted his head and confusion, muttering back, "This place, this place."

"Er…" Sora scratched the back of his hand. He hadn't expected other world's inhabitants to be so hard to talk to. "Look, I'm trying to find my friends," Sora says. The man gives him another confused look and in a slower voice Sora repeats, "Friends."

"Friends," the man says.

"Yes, my friends," Sora says, wondering if the man is really understanding him. "Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Master Eraqus."

"Look for Terra? Friend?" The man asks.

"Right!" Sora says. He looks to the side and does a double take seeing an image of Ven glowing slightly and leaning against a tree and watching them.

"Ven, friends?" The man says.

Sora drags his eyes back to the man. "Uh, right." He looks back at the tree, but Ven is gone.

"Friends...friends here."

"What?" Sora says looking at the man in surprise. "Really?"

"*&&X%. *&&X%," the man makes strange sounds that are animalistic. "Friends here."

"Not sure I understand," Sora says slowly. "But, show me! Take me to Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Master Eraqus."

"Tarzan," the man says pointing to his chest. "Tarzan go."

"I'm Sora. Tarzan go...Sora go go!"

It seems Tarzan understands and with a jerk of his head, he heads off into the jungle with Sora hurrying after him.

...

Sora is shocked when after walking for nearly ten minutes Tarzan suddenly leads him out of the wild jungle into the clearing that had been set up as a large campsite. Still following Tarzan, Sora enters the tent in the middle where a young woman with long brown hair has her back to the entrance as she goes through a box of books. "Jane," Tarzan says and the woman turns around.

"Tarzan- Oh, who is this?" Jane says turning around and seeing Sora.

"Uh, hi. I'm-" Sora starts to say, but he is cut off as the woman hurries forward.

"You speak English," she says in a surprised voice. "So, then, obviously, you're not related to Tarzan. Are you here to study the gorillas?"

Sora opens his mouth to answer, but before he can a large man enters the tent with shotgun in hand and says, "Highly doubtful." He looks Sora up and down and sneers. "A skinny child. Not much use in hunting gorillas."

Jane puts her hands on her hips. "Mr. Clayton, we're studying them, not hunting them. This is research."

Clayton makes a dismissive gesture and turns away from them. He busies himself with cleaning his shotgun while Jane turns back to Sora with a smile, "The more the merrier. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Sora says taking the seat she offers. She sits across a small table from him and he asks, "So, what is this place called."

"We call is Deep Jungle," Jane replies with a smile. "As you can see, it's a fairly accurate name."

Sora nods and looks up as Tarzan walks on all fours to them. "Can you understand Tarzan?"

"Not most of the time," Jane admits as Tarzan sits on the ground beside them watching them with interest. "Tarzan was raised in the jungle by the gorillas. Communicating with him still isn't easy, but we are both learning."

"So he was speaking 'gorilla' back there," Sora says looking at Tarzan. "He said my friends were here and then one word I didn't understand."

"Your friends are here?" Jane says in surprise. "Is that true Tarzan?" She starts to speak slower. "Are Sora's friends here?"

Tarzan nods. "*&&X%."

"Can you take me to them?" Sora asks excited. This is the first world he found and its the right one. He had been right to tell Cloud he was strong enough to do find them.

Tarzan shakes his head.

Sora's mouth drops open. "But...but I don't understand."

"I'm sorry Sora, but if your friends were here I think we would have seen them," Jane says. "We've been in this jungle a long time and haven't come across them."

"Well that just leaves one place then, doesn't it," Clayton says walking over to them. "If you're friends are here I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them."

"Really, Mr. Clayton," Jane says. "Tarzan wouldn't hide-"

"Then take us there! Take us to the gorillas." Clayton leans down to be on the same level as Tarzan. "Go-ril-las."

Tarzan looks at him a long moment before turning to Sora. He nods. "Tarzan go see Kerchak."

"Kerchak?" Sora asks confused.

"He must be the leader," Clayton says shouldering his gun. "Perfect. I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place." Sora doesn't want Clayton tagging along, but he has a point. After the leopard, Sora isn't as confident in his abilities on this strange world.

Tarzan walks out of the tent on all fours with the other three following him. He leads them back into the jungle and to a spot where several vines hang down that isn't too far from the camp. "Kerchak," Tarzan says again, looking up. He grabs the nearest vine and quickly ascends with the others following at a much slower pace.

Clayton reaches the treetops first where there is a place to stand. Sora clambers up next and then reaches down to help Jane up. The three of them stand together, looking around curiously. Tarzan stands on two legs and beats his chest while calling out in gorilla. A few moments later, several large gorillas appear on other tree tops and move closer. The largest glances in Sora's direction for a moment before turning his eyes on Tarzan who immediately starts talking earnestly in gorilla.

"Can you understand him?" Sora asks Jane.

She nods. "Parts." She listens for a moment. "He's saying something about secret grounds and trusting...oh! Trusting us."

Sora looks to the largest gorilla, Kerchak, who fixes him with a glare. "Kerchak?" Tarzan says.

If Kerchek was going to answer, they would never know because at that moment a gunshot rings out causing everyone, both human and gorilla, to jump.

There is a scream of fear and Sora whirls around to see a small gorilla running as fast as it can away from Clayton and to the female gorilla at Kerchak's side. "Clayton! What on earth are you doing?" Jane exclaims as he guiltily lowers his smoking gun.

"You don't understand," Clayton says. "I was only trying to…" He trails off and Sora turns back to the gorillas as they turn to leave."

"Kerchak!" Tarzan calls after them, but the big gorilla doesn't even glance back.

"It was a snake," Clayton says, his cocky attitude coming back. "A snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life."

He smiles, but Sora glares at him, his hands balling into fists. Beside him Jane and Tarzan are doing the same and Clayton's smile slips off his face. In the distance, the deep cry of a gorilla comes from the trees.

"Go," Tarzan says moving to the vines they had climbed up earlier. "Go," he says more urgently when they don't move. Looking back over his shoulder, Sora nods, understanding. They are no longer welcome up here.

Taking one of the vines in his hands, he slides down with the others beside him. Once they reach the bottom, Tarzan leads them back to the camp. The whole way there, no one says a word, but when they enter the tent Jane rounds on Clayton and puts a threatening finger to his chest.

"How could you do such a thing!"

Backing away from her with his hands raised in surrender, Clayton says, "Now, Miss Porter, as I said, I was not aiming at the gorilla."

Jane however shakes her head. She looks around at all the research in the tent, all the hours put into getting the gorillas to trust her. "You are not to go near the gorillas again!"

"All because of one mishap?" Clayton says laughing nervously. "Come, now…"

Sora moves to Jane's side and summons his keyblade. "I suggest you listen to her," he says.

Taking the threat, Clayton backs up until he is at the tent flap. With a final sneer over his shoulder, he hurries out of the tent. Sighing, Jane sits down on a stool and puts her head in her hands. "Why did I ever let him come on this expedition?" Tarzan walks to her and puts a hand on her shoulder. At his touch, she looks up and smiles sadly at him.

Sora lets his keyblade disappear and puts his hands behind his head as he leans back. What was he doing here? Tarzan said his friends were here, but that is seeming far-fetched at the moment. Despite what Tarzan had said, he'd seen no trace of them here. He thinks about going back to the gummi ship and trying to get it out of the tree, but a glance outside the tent shows that night is falling and he isn't keen on going into the jungle in the dark.

"You're welcome to stay here for the night if you like," Jane says as Sora lets the tent flap fall back down. "We will look again for your friends tomorrow."

"Thank you," Sora says gratefully.

After a quick dinner, Jane lays out two cots, one for her and one for Sora. She offers one to Tarzan, but the man shakes his head. He heads for the tent flap and gives them one final look before going outside. He doesn't need to say any words. They both know he is keeping watch, making sure Clayton doesn't sneak back in the night.

* * *

***&&X% is used in place of the gorilla word Tarzan uses. It's directly from the game and how they wrote the sound in the subtitles.**

**LightzMusic22: Totally intentional throwback. I wasn't planning on making Sora's visit to Deep Jungle as close to how it was in KH1 as it turned out, but it just works so well with Sora looking for Terra, Aqua, Ven, and Eraqus.**

**TopazDragon98: Sora definitely needs some gummi ship driving lessons.**

**CatLoverx33: Uh oh is right! Damn it Sora! Learn to fly!**

**kage kitsune no yami: Not as exciting of an ending to this chapter sadly.**

**So Deep Jungle, yea or nay so far? Do you like that I kept it sort of like how it was in the game or do you wish I'd changed it up more? FEED ME OPINIONS!**


	4. Heart

Chapter 4 _Heart_

The crack of a shotgun blast cuts through the quiet air of the morning making both Sora and Jane wake suddenly in alarm. Exchanging a worried glance, they both throw off their covers and hurry outside, shivering slightly in the predawn air. The sky is just beginning to turn pink as they squint around, trying to determine where the sound came from.

"Jane!"

They both whirl around at Tarzan's shout and see him pointing down a path that leads into a bamboo thicket. "Clayton," Tarzan says before running out of the camp grounds with Sora and Jane following him.

They enter the bamboo thicket and slow to stop, looking around. Clayton isn't there but lying on a rock in the center of the thicket is his pipe. Walking over, Sora picks up. He nearly drops it in surprise when another gun shot rings out. It is close by and Tarzan leads them once more to rockier terrain where Clayton is standing with his gun pointed at the gorillas. There are heartless as well that Sora recognizes as Powerwilds. He has read about them in the extensive collection of information on heartless that Leon had back in Traverse Town. Sora is shocked to see the heartless seem to be on Clayton's side, helping contain the gorillas.

Clayton's finger goes to the trigger of his gun, but before he can pull it, Sora shouts, "No!"

Clayton turns to them with questioning look. "Clayton…" Jane says, her hand at her mouth as she looks from the gun and the heartless to the gorillas.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan says glaring at the man. "*&&X%! Not Clayton!"

With Clayton and the heartless' attention now on Sora and the others, the trapped gorillas break out of the line of Powerwilds and disappear into the jungle. Clayton takes a step to follow them, but is met instead by Sora's keyblade pointed at his throat. At the threat, Clayton merely smirks.

"Sora!" Tarzan shouts his name and runs to his side just in time to knock back the Powerwild that had leapt at Sora. It a quick motion, Sora turns to the heartless and stabs down with his keyblade, killing it with one hard hit. He falls into a battle stance as the heartless close in around him. Looking over them, he sees Clayton standing at a safe distance, watching without much interest.

"Get out of here Jane," Sora says as Tarzan readies his spear. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Jane head back into the bamboo thicket. Sora turns to the Powerwilds as they start jabbering in excitement. "Thundaga!" He shouts, raising his keyblade to the sky and forks of lightning strike several of the heartless making them jump back, shrieking in pain. With a grunting cry, Tarzan lashes out with his spear at the nearest heartless and knocks it into one of its comrades. Sora leaps forward, taking advantage of the distraction his thunder spell had created to land to hits on the heartless in front of him and getting the combo on one to his right. As both hearts rise into the sky, another Powerwild jumps at him with its claws moving so fast they are just a blur. Sora blocks it with his keyblade and counterattacks with a blow that knocks the heartless back on its butt. As it tries to get to its feet, he throws his keyblade at it, catching it in the chest. It fades and his keyblade returns to his hand.

Looking around, Sora sees that Tarzan has eliminated the rest of the Powerwilds and is advancing towards Clayton. Clayton has his back to a wall with no chance of escape, but he still smirks. Suddenly, the wall behind him starts to shake with an immense pounding force behind it and then it tumbles down.

Coughing as the smoke clears, Sora looks up and squints at the slight mirage in the dusty air. It is the shape of a huge monster on four legs and a curled up tail. The dust settles and the shape becomes completely invisible. Tarzan lets out a growl and runs for Clayton with his spear out. A shrill shriek echoes around the area as an invisible force slams into Tarzan mid jump and throws him back against the rocks.

"Tarzan!" Sora shouts looking to his fallen friend, but the sound of a shotgun being reloaded makes him face Clayton again. The man is in the air, sitting astride an invisible beast whose outline is just visible in a shaky mirage if Sora looks carefully. The barrel of the gun is aimed right for Sora and he readies himself for the fight.

Before Clayton has a chance to shoot, the invisible heartless underneath him leaps forward. Sora feels a rush of air from claws cutting through the air where he had been standing as he jumps back. He swings his keyblade at the fuzzy outline in the air and is able to land a hit, causing another shrill shriek to echo. The heartless moves away for a moment to recover and Tarzan is back at Sora's side. They exchange a glance for a moment before nodding and charging together.

Clayton points his gun and fires, but Sora raises his keyblade in a block and deflects all the bullets aimed at himself and at Tarzan. While Clayton relaods, Sora swings at the legs of the heartless and Tarzan jumps into the air to attack the head. Overwhelmed by both attacks, the heartless shrieks again and it becomes visible as its eyes begin to glow a bright blue. Sora has just enough time to take in the green and yellow lizard body before bright lasers shoot out of the glowing eyes and race straight for him. Caught off guard, he has no protection against them as they slam into his chest and knock him back against a rock wall.

All the breath is knocked from his body on impact and he falls to the ground, gasping for air. He looks up just in time to duck down again as the lizard heartless charges him with its wickedly sharp horn lowered to aim at his head. Sora cringes as he hears the horn slam into the rock wall mere inches above his head.

The heartless pulls back and opens its mouth the reveal pointed teeth as it lunges towards Sora. He brings his keyblade up in a feeble block and turns his head, waiting for the pain of the bite, but it never comes. Just as the teeth of the heartless are about to close around him, Tarzan leaps between them, beating the lizard back with his spear.

The small cuts Tarzan is able to inflict only seem to enrage the heartless further. It rears up on its back legs, leaving Clayton clinging to its neck to stay on. As its eyes begin to glow blue again, Sora gets back to his feet and heaves his keyblade in a throwing motion at the heartless, It spins perfectly in a move called Strike Raid, hitting the heartless squarely in the middle of its unprotected underside.

The heartless writhes in pain, sending Clayton falling backwards off it. Clayton is able to half sit up, but that's as far as he gets as the lizard stumbles backwards from the mortal wound and falls down dead on top of Clayton. Its still form glows slightly before it turns into a pink heart that rises to the sky leaving no trace of the heartless or Clayton.

Sora stares in shock at the spot where Clayton had fallen. He has killed thousands of heartless before, but never a man. He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up at a grim-face Tarzan. "Not Clayton. *&&X%," Tarzan says in a low voice, but that does little to make Sora feel better.

"Is it safe?" They both turn at Jane's voice to see her slowly returning.

"Yes," Sora says. "Clayton and the heartless are gone."

When Jane reaches them, Tarzan grabs Sora's shoulder. "*&&X%," he says pointing up at the top of a rock face.

"What? Err...lead the way I guess," Sora says not sure what Tarzan wants from him.

With a quick nod, Tarzan bounds up the rocks with easy, sure movements leaving Sora and Jane to clamber up awkwardly after him. The top is flat and after helping Jane to her feet, Sora looks up to see a beautiful waterfall spilling into a large lake.

Tarzan makes an impatient noise and walks to the entrance of a cave hidden behind the waterfall. Jane and Sora follow him into the narrow area where vines and jutting out rocks make it possible to climb up to the ceiling of the cave. At the top most rock, there is another cave hidden by a curtain of vines.

"*&&X%," Tarzan says, gesturing for Sora to go first. With a deep breath, Sora pushes back the vines hoping to find Ven, Aqua, Terra, and Master Eraqus standing there looking just the same as he remembers. But he walks into a small, empty cavern. He looks around in confusion and then back at Tarzan who comes in behind him with Jane.

"Where are they?" Sora asks crestfallen. "I thought you said my friends were here."

"*&&X%. Friends there. See friends," Tarzan replies walking to a tree covered in butterflies on the far side of the cavern.

"Oh, now I've got it," Jane says. "*&&X% means heart. Friends in our hearts…" She looks to Sora and gives him an apologetic smile.

"Heart…" Tarzan repeats slowly.

"Oh," Sora says looking down at his shoes. "So that's what it meant."

"Friends, same heart." Tarzan puts a hand to his chest over his heart. "Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends."

Sora puts a hand over his heart as well and sighs. This isn't turning out as easy as he thought it was going to be. It seems foolish now to know he had thought he would find his friends in the first world he came to. He is lost in depressed thoughts when the tip of his keyblade starts to glow. He looks up in surprise and feels a tug as his keyblade is pulled towards the tree Tarzan is standing by. As the light at the end of his keyblade gets brighter the butterflies begin to take flight, revealing that they had been hiding the shape of a keyhole carved in the trunk. A beam of light bursts from his keyblade and hits the center of the keyhole. As the light fades, the sound of a lock sliding into place echoes around the small cavern.

"What was that?" Jane asks.

"I'm not sure," Sora says slowly, looking down at his keyblade. "But I don't think the heartless will be a problem again anytime soon."

The three of them turn around as a small gorilla comes running in. She jabbers excitedly to Tarzan for a moment before rushing back out. Tarzan looks to Sora. "Sora go." As Tarzan leaves the cave, Jane and Sora follow wondering where Tarzan is taking them now.

…

They are walking slowly through the jungle when an incredibly loud crash causes the ground under them to tremble. Hurrying quickly to the source of the sound, they find themselves at the site of Sora's gummi ship crash except the gummi ship is no longer stuck in the tree. At least eight gorillas are dropping down from the branches where the ship used be to the ground where it is now lying. To Sora's surprise, the windshield that had been shattered seems to have been replaced and the dings and scratches that had covered the side are gone, leaving the ship looking brand new again.

Astonished, Sora moves to the door of the ship and it slides open. The inside looks just as fixed up as the outside and the screen in the center of the dashboard reads, "REPAIRS. 99% Complete." The loading bar underneath the words is nearly full and moment later the numbers change to 100%.

"This is your ship?" Jane says as her and Tarzan come to the door and peer in.

"Yeah," Sora says looking around at the perfect interior. "It repaired itself." He moves to the captain's chair and runs a hand over the headrest, remembering how he had last seen his ship. "Why did the gorillas get it out of the tree for me?"

"It must be their way of saying thank you for stopping Clayton," Jane says. Beside her, Tarzan nods in agreement.

"Sora go now," Tarzan says. "Friends waiting." He points up to the sky above.

"Thank you," Sora says waving to both Jane and Tarzan as they move away from the door of the Gummi Ship, letting in slide closed. Sora walks to the captain's and sits down. The screen has changed to say, "Unknown world. Would you like to depart?"

Looking out the windshield, Sora sees all the gorilla have moved to a safe distance and he presses the yes button under the screen. The engines on either side of the ship come to life right away. He can feel them building in power as he grips the steering wheel. For a moment fear crosses his mind. Back in Traverse Town there had been an elaborate launching pad system designed by Cid, but there isn't here. Instead, there are trees hemping in and making a launch seem impossible for the small ship.

His fear is unwarranted though as the ship's thrusters turn vertical and make the ship rise straight into the air. Sora waves one last time to Jane and Tarzan before he breaks through the highest branches of the forest. For a moment he hovers there, taking in the beauty of the wild world, before the engines change direction again and he is shooting off into space once more.

…

"What am I doing?" Sora asks aloud as he flies slowly through the empty space. Since leaving Deep Jungle, he has seen no worlds. He is feeling lost and very much out of his element. Back in Traverse Town, world traveling had seemed so alluring, but now Sora is yearning for the safety and predictability of his home. As much as he wants to find and help his lost friends, what good is he to them just wandering around pointlessly? And alone?

Maybe he just isn't ready, like Cloud said. Maybe he should give himself a few more years of training before trying to take on the universe. And, he decides, the next time he ventures out to look for Ven and the others he won't go alone. He will convince Riku and Kairi to come with him. Together they would be able to bring back the others.

His mind made up, Sora turns to the screen on the dashboard and after a minute figures out how to send a video call to Cid in Traverse Town. A spinning circle with the words, "Calling Traverse Town Home Terminal" is on the screen for a moment before the call is picked up. The image of Cid's workshop comes into view with Cid rubbing his eyes and Cloud beside him, sleeping with his head on the table.

"Sora," Cid says in a relieved and tired voice. Hitting the back of Cloud's head and waking him instantly, Cid says, "Wake up and see who wants to chat."

Cloud turns his bleary eyes to Sora. "Hey," Sora says biting lip. It just occurs to him that he is probably in more trouble than he has ever been in in his life.

All traces of tiredness leave Cloud's face. "Sora," he says in relief, sitting up straight. "We've been trying to call you all night."

"Sorry, I disabled the video call thing after you called. And then there was the whole thing in Deep Jungle..." Sora glances away from the screen for a moment. He swears he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but there is nothing moving in space except him.

"Deep Jungle? Is that a world ya visited?" Cid asks.

"Yeah, I...um…I might have accidently crashed into it." He says in a cringes at Cid and Cloud's expressions of horror.

"Are you hurt?" Cloud asks urgently.

"No, I'm fine," Sora says and adds quickly, "The ship is fine to. It like fixed itself or something." Again he glances out the window, thinking he saw something moving outside the ship, but again he sees nothing.

"It's self healing," Cid says bring Sora's attention back to him. "I designed it like that. Give it enough and it can fix itself no matter how badly you fuck it up."

Just as Cid says that, the ship suddenly rocks violently with an explosion coming from below the hull. Sora cries out in surprise as he loses control of the gummi ship for a moment. As he rights it, Cloud and Cid yell, asking what happened. "I don't-" Sora starts to say, but another explosion, this one on the right side, rocks the ship again. He gasps and the color drains from his face as small orange ships fly in front of him, blocking his path.

"Cid," Sora says, fear making his voice shake. "Please tell me you put weapons on this ship."

"What's going on Sor-" Cloud starts to ask, leaning closer to the camera, but Cid pushes him out of the way and begins to speak quickly.

"Listen to me kid, hit the green button that's to your left."

Sora looks. "There are two!"

"The bigger one, damnit," Cid says and Sora quickly presses the button. A green glow starts at the tip and washes over the whole ship. A rocket comes flying from the line of orange ships and Sora braces himself for another impact, but when it hits the explosion is muffled and the ship doesn't rock as much.

"Those are your shields," Cid says still talking quickly. "What have you got for steering? A wheel?"

"Uh, yeah," Sora says slowing the ship down to a near standstill so it doesn't crash into the enemy ships. His eyes widen seeing the heartless insignia on them.

"There should be a knob on the steering column. Turn it once clockwise."

Sora does so and nearly yelps in surprise as the steering wheel retracts into the column and a moment later video game controller takes its spot. "Cid…" Sora says now even more confused.

"Press X!"

Sora does as told and watches in amazement as a beam of light is fired from the nose of his ship. It hits one of the heartless ships, destroying it on impact. His moment of victory is cut short be a retaliation volley from the enemy ships. Seeing all the rockets coming at him, Sora presses a random button on the controller and gasps in surprise as the ship does a barrel roll. He is gripping the sides of his seat hard when the flipping stops and he lets out a sigh seeing it worked, none of the rockets had hit the ship.

"Rapid fire, Sora," Cid says and Sora nods. He starts slamming the X button as fast as he can, resulting in hundreds of beams of light firing. He has little control over where they go, but the sheer number means enough hits to take down a good number of the heartless ships. After decimating their numbers, the remaining ships flee from Sora and he falls back in his seat in relief.

"They gone?" Cid asks and Sora looks at the screen to see him and Cloud watching him worriedly. Sora nods. "Good," Cid says. "Now take down the shields. With them up yer burnin' twice the power." Sora presses the shield button again and the green glow slides across the ship again.

Cloud asks, "What were they?"

"Heartless ships," Sora says. "I didn't know there was such a thing." He turns the thruster up and the ship starts moving again. Even with the video game controller instead of the wheel, the ship is easy to steer with the small joysticks. Once he is flying at a good speed, he glances back at the screen to see Cloud frowning angrily at him.

"Sora-"

"I'm sorry Cloud," Sora says, cutting him off. "You were right. I'm not ready for this. I don't know what I'm doing. I…" Sora sighs. "I want to come home."

Cloud's angry expression softens. "It's alright Sora. Just get back here and we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay," Sora says.

"I'll let Tifa know you're coming home," Cloud says. "She and the others have been worried sick about you."

Sora grimaces, feeling bad for worrying everyone, as Cloud gets to his feet and walks out of the frame of the video camera leaving Sora under only the glaring eye of Cid. "I'm sorry for stealing your gummi ship," Sora says. "And, you know, for crashing it."

Cid gives him a long hard stare that makes him shift around guiltily. "I don't care about the damn ship," Cid says in a softer voice than Sora expected. "Just make sure you get your ass home in one piece."

"I will-" Sora starts to say, but all of a sudden the screen goes dark. "Cid?"

One by one all the lit up and flashing buttons on the dashboard go dark. The engines whine and begin to slow before shutting off completely. Sora looks around in confusion as the gummi ship comes to a halt. There is a moment when nothing moves and then a blue light envelops the ship from a source far off in space. Sora sits frozen in shock until the ship starts to be dragged sideways by the light despite the engines being off. Starting to panic, Sora starts hitting random buttons on the controller in his hands and on the dashboard, but without power none of them are working. Knowing he is helpless, Sora gives up pressing the buttons. He will just have to wait and see where he is being taken.

* * *

**Sorry for the longer than normal wait on this chapter. I've been buried under schoolwork and college stuff these last few weeks. :( One more week before break! :) *praying for snow days***

**Dream For Tonight: It would have been quite a different story if Tarzan had been swearing the whole time XD**

**LightzChristmas22: I love your new pic! **

**Where's Sora being taken now? Is he really about to give up already on his quest? Will he ever learn how to drive a gummi ship? You will just have to wait for the next chapter to find out!**


	5. The Past Revealed

Chapter 5 _The Past Revealed_

Staring up at the crooked tower, Sora wonders what had brought him here and for what reason. His ship had been dragged through space for nearly half an hour before reaching this tiny world. As wary he is of whatever magical power is strong enough to take control of his ship, he is eager to find out.

Keeping his eyes lifted to watch the windows of the tower for any movement, Sora walks to the front door. He raises his hand to knock, but decides against it and slowly opens the door. The inside is empty except for a staircase winding its way up the circular walls.

Curious, Sora starts to hurry up the stairs, but after three flights, he is fed up with the climbing. Panting slightly, he opens the next door and finds himself in a small study where a old man with a long gray beard stares and him with piercing eyes from across a large desk.

"Hey there," Sora says nervously. The strange hat and blue robe reminds him of Merlin. It seems he has found the powerful magic user who had taken control of his ship.

"Sora, it has been a long time," the man says.

Sora frowns in confusion. "It has?"

"I see you don't remember me," the man says. "Not surprising as we only met a few times when you were young. Maybe something else can help you remember…" With a wave of his hand, a small blue creature pops into existence above Sora and he catches it as it falls into his arms.

"Meow Wow?" He says in shock, holding up the pudgy creature to eye level. It lets out a short and happy bark before licking Sora's face. Laughing, Sora looks back at the man. He remembers this study now. He had come here with Riku and Kairi. Master Eraqus had left them with this man, Master Yen Sid, who had given Sora Meow Wow. "Master Yen Sid," Sora says putting Meow Wow on the ground and letting him wander away to sniff around the room. "You were friends with Master Eraqus."

Master Yen Sid lowers his head. "Indeed I was, for many years."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Sora asks hopefully, but his shoulders droop when Master Yen Sid shakes his head.

"It has been ten years since I last saw him, Master Aqua, Master Terra, and young Ventus. I have tried to piece together what occurred that day, but there are many holes left." Master Yen Sid waves a hand and a chair appears in front of his desk. "Sit, he says to Sora . He does so and Master Yen Sid continues. "I understand you are trying to piece together what happened."

"Yeah, but I'm not doing such a great job of it so far," Sora says, frowning.

"Don't lose hope just yet," Master Yen Sid says. "You are not as alone in this quest as you think."

Sora looks up confused. "Who-" He is cut off by a knocking at the door.

"Enter," Master Yen Sid says and Sora twists around in his seat. His mouth drops open slightly to see a tall dog and a duck walk into the study. "Ah, Donald, Goofy, right on time."

"Master Yen Sid, it's an honor," the duck says bowing low.

His companion does the same. Straightening up, he turns to Sora and says, "Hey there Sora! Look at you all grown up."

Sora looks in confusion between the two and then at Master Yen Sid. Seeing his need for explanation, Master Yen Sid says, "Sora, this is Donald Duck, the Royal Magician at Disney Castle, and Goofy, captain of the Royal Knights. I believe they were your babysitters once when Eraqus had to go on a mission while I was also predisposed."

"Babysitters?" Sora says. This dive into the past is making his head spin.

"That's right," Donald says. "We were perfect babysitters, looking after you and that troublemaker Riku."

"Donald, I think you're forgetting that Ven ran away on our watch," Goofy says and Donald glares at him.

"You know Ven too?" Sora asks in surprise. He turns to Master Yen Sid. "I'm lost here."

"How much do you remember of your time as an apprentice under Eraqus?" Master Yen Sid asks him.

"Not much," Sora admits. "Mostly just being with them. Just being happy and having fun." He ducks his head at the memories of what he has lost.

When he raises his head again, two more chairs have appear and Donald and Goofy sit down. "I think it is best if I start at the beginning," Master Yen Sid says leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed in deep thought. "There are some things even I do not know or do not understand, but I will tell you what I can about your friends and the tragedy that befell them." He pauses for a long moment and then begins.

"At the center of all of this is an incredible power called Kingdom Hearts and a dark keyblade master named Xehanort. Hundreds of years ago, the worlds lost Kingdom Hearts when Vairos, wielder of the X-blade, destroyed the weapon to keep those with greed in their hearts from getting Kingdom Hearts' light. The keyblades you and I carry are based off the X-blade. The legendary weapon is seven parts light and thirteen parts darkness. It is given to the one charged with protecting Kingdom Hearts. Its destruction led to the locking away of Kingdom Hearts, taking its light from the worlds, and it has remained locked away ever since."

Master Yen Sid pauses again, letting Sora absorb what he had said. Sora racks his brain, trying to come up with a memory of this X-blade ever being mentioned to him, but he can't. Still, te thought of it stirs something inside him.

"Then came Xehanort," Master Yen Sid says, he voice full of anger. "Full of curiosity of the war that brought about the X-blade's destruction and having just been named a master, he sent out to travel the worlds and find a way to recreate the X-blade in order to bring back Kingdom Hearts. When Eraqus and I learned of his dark intentions with Kingdom Hearts power, we set out to stop him and succeeded in trapping him in the dark realm. However, unknown to us at the time, days before we imprisoned him, he set his plan into motion. On the dark and far off world of Carinol, he found the Kingdom Hearts chosen wielder of the X-blade, Ventus."

"Ven is the X-blade wielder?" Sora says in surprise and Master Yen Sid nods gravely.

"Ten years ago, Xehanort made his return and sought out Ventus who at that point had become Master Eraqus' pupil at MEKA. I and my apprentice Mickey, your king," Master Yen Sid says with a nod to Donald and Goofy, "traveled the worlds in an attempt to find Xehanort and put a stop to him while Master Eraqus did all he could to protect Ventus from darkness that, if able to take over his heart, would have caused the creation of the X-blade. Despite our efforts, we both failed. Xehanort got to Ventus and attempted to create the X-blade. You were there too Sora. Do you remember?"

A scene of red rock and high cliffs flashes in Sora's mind and he shudders. "You mean that nightmare I always have?" Sora asks. He has had the same recurring nightmare as long as he can remember. "The one with Ven screaming? I always try to reach him, to stop whoever's hurting him, but I never get there in time."

"I'm sorry Sora, but was no dream." Master Yen Sid bows his head. "It happened when you were five and Ventus was fifteen. It was the day Xehanort split Ventus' heart in two and the day Ventus gave you the ability to wield the keyblade after you saved him."

"I saved him?" That part is never in his dreams.

"Yes, he would have died that day if it hadn't been for you," Master Yen Sid says.

Sora tries to remember what had happened, but the only thing he can come up with is a masked boy dressed in red and black. "There was another boy there. Who is he?"

Master Yen Sid frowns slightly. "Vanitas," he says after a moment. "Xehanort took the dark half of Ventus' heart and gave it a body. His hope was for Vanitas and Ventus to clash in a physical combat and for Vanitas to win, laying claim to the X-blade with which he could unlock Kingdom Hearts for Xehanort."

"But Ven didn't let that happen," Sora says.

"Yes and no," Master Yen Sid says slowly. "Ventus and Vanitas did indeed clash and the result was the recreation of the X-blade. From what Master Aqua was able to tell me, Vanitas did take control of the X-blade, but Ventus was able to take it back, destroying it and sending himself into a comatose state."

"Ven's in a coma?" Sora asks, leaning forward in his seat in alarm.

"Of sorts. His heart fled his body leaving him in an eternal sleep. Only once his heart is returned will he wake," Master Yen Sid says.

"So where's his heart?" Sora asks looking around the study. "And his body? Is he here?"

Master Yen Sid shakes his head. "Despite my searching, I have yet to discover where Ven's heart ended up. The universe is vast and being expelled from his body could have sent it anywhere. As for his body, it is not here. Master Aqua took him someplace safe. It is a place only the one with his heart can enter. Any who wish to do him harm will be kept away."

"Is Aqua with him?" Sora asks. "What about Terra and Master Eraqus?"

Master Yen Sid doesn't answer for a moment. He looks out the window, staring deep in thought at the stars in the sky. "I know little of their fates," he says at last, turning his eyes back to Sora who slumps in his chair. "Master Eraqus and Master Terra both…presumably...fell...in Xehanort's first attack."

At his words, Sora feels his face pale. "But...but you don't know for sure," he says, hoping for reassurance.

"No," Master Yen Sid says, shaking his head. "However, Master Aqua told me before she left with Ven that Xehanort had possessed Terra's body and was in the world of Radiant Garden."

"Did she find him there?" Sora asks quickly.

"I am afraid I do not know," Master Yen Sid says in a sullen voice. "It was the last I saw of Master Aqua."

Sora drops his eyes to his shoes as he tries to absorb it all. He finally knows what had happened to his friends all those years ago, but it is worse than he had thought. Ven is in a coma, Terra is possessed, Master Eraqus is presumably dead, and Aqua has vanished.

"But what about King Mickey?" Donald asks breaking the silence. "Have you heard from him recently? He hasn't been home in months now."

"He stops by now and again, but since becoming a Keyblade Master he has devoted most of his time to looking for Eraqus and his three students," Master Yen Sid replies.

"This Mickey is looking for Ven and the others?" Sora asks hope flooding back into him. "Has he found anything?"

"Not yet, but he is the reason I have asked the two of you here," Master Yen Sid says turning to Donald and Goofy. "Mickey has indeed been away for too long. I believe it would be in everyone's best interest if you accompanied Sora on his quest. As it is the same as Mickey's you will in all likelihood cross paths along the way."

Sora turns to look at Goofy and Donald. Goofy gives him a big smile and a grin, but Donald frowns and crosses his arms. "Master Yen Sid, are you sure it's best for a kid to tag along?"

"I'm not a kid!" Sora says glaring at Donald.

"Despite his age, Sora is a keyblade wielder," Master Yen Sid says in a calm voice. "His upbringing might not have been the classical training, but it is still his duty to protect the worlds from darkness and help those in need." Donald still look skeptical, but doesn't argue further. "Now then," Master Yen Sid rising from his chair and going to a bookcase behind his desk. "I would suggest you start your search for your friends in the world of Hollow Bastion. There is someone there who may know more than I do about both your lost friends and Mickey."

"Great," Sora says jumping to his feet. "Let's go."

"One more thing," Master Yen Sid says. He pulls a book from his bookshelf. "I overheard you talking to your friends in Traverse Town before I brought you here." He moves back to the desk and puts a book in front of Sora. "I believe it will be in your best interest to read this before you depart. It has information that will greatly assist you in your journey."

Curious, Sora sits back down and pulls the book to him. He reads the cover.

_How to Drive a Gummi Ship for Dummies_ by Cid Highwind.

His mouth falling open, Sora looks to Master Yen Sid expecting to see a hint of a joke on the old man's face, but he is met the same serious stare. Dropping his eyes back to the thick book on his lap, he opens to the first chapter and starts to read,

"Chapter 1: Where the hell is the landing gear? Trick question, there isn't one. Anyone with half a brain knows Gummi Ships aren't designed to land on worlds. Approach a world and put the ship in park so it will hover. There's a transport beam to take you down. When you're ready to leave, return to the same spot you landed and there will be a green circle on the ground to mark where the transport beam. Under _no _circumstances are you to ever say 'Beam me up Scotty'..."

…

Three hours and 356 pages later, Sora is back in the captain's chair on the Gummi Ship with Donald and Goofy on either side of him in the co-captains' chairs. Looking at the blinking buttons on the dashboard, Sora admits to himself that the book did indeed help. From the gauges, he could tell they have full power, full ammunition, and the shields are available for use. The video game controller in his hands has its own set of buttons with which he can fire weapons, steer the ship, and perform evasive moves like the barrel roll he has already experienced. The book had also taught him that he can switch between the controller and the steering wheel to drive with whatever he prefers, but only the controller can be used to fire weapons.

"You ready to head out, Sora?" Goofy asks.

"Yeah," Sora replies looking from Goofy to Donald. Both of them are sitting behind their own video game controller which control the two Teeny Ships now hovering beside the Gummi Ship. The supporting ships had been a gift from Master Yen Sid, along with a warning to be wary in traveling through space as many heartless ships lurk around.

Looking to the screen in front of him, Sora selects to depart and feels the engines of the ship coming to life. A moment later they are rising into the air, leaving Master Yen Sid's tower far behind as they head out into space. Using what he has learned, Sora pulls up a list of worlds in the Gummi Ship's database and selects Hollow Bastion as their destination. The radar screen comes up, showing that Hollow Bastion is to the east. Turning the ship in the right direction, Sora settles back in his seat for the flight, only occasionally pressing on the joystick controls to keep the ship on its path. Not sure what to say to his new companions, Sora focuses on flying the ship, but it isn't long before he finds himself staring with a frown at the screen.

"Something wrong Sora?" Donald asks.

Sora shakes his head slightly. "I...I have to make a call." He reaches out a hand and hesitates a moment before pressing the button on the screen that replaces the radar with a video call to Cid's computer in Traverse Town. It only takes a moment for the call to be answered.

"Sora!"

"Ka-Kairi," Sora stammers in surprise seeing the red head smiling happily at him.

Riku moves into the video screen and fixes Sora with a glare. "That was one dumbass move Sora," he says and a fresh wave of guilt rolls over Sora.

"Don't make him feel bad," Kairi says swatting Riku's arm. "You're just mad he went without you."

Sora can see in Riku's frown that Kairi is right. "Sorry Riku," he says not able to meet his best friend's eyes. "I know it was stupid of me to run off alone."

Riku's expression is still hard, but glancing at him, Sora can see he isn't really mad. "I'll just add it to the list of stupid things you've done that I've forgiven you for," Riku says.

Sora smiles, but it fades as he remembers his reason for calling. "Is Cid there?" He asks.

Riku glances off to the side, out of the view Sora has of the workshop. "Cid is-

"Shit!" The shouts in accompanied by a loud crash.

"-being Cid," Riku finishes saying. "What is it you want to tell him?"

"Oh," Sora says suddenly interested in the zipper of his left pocket. "I thought I should let him know that...I'm not coming home." He says the last part in a rush and cringes slightly as Riku and Kairi's mouth drop open.

"But you told Cloud that you were," Kairi says slowly.

"I know, but…" Sora glances at Goofy and Donald who are watching him curiously. "Thing have changed." Sitting up a little straighter he says, "I have a lead."

"You do?" Riku says surprised.

"Yeah, a world called Hollow Bastion," Sora says. "Supposedly there is some there who knows some stuff about Ven and the others."

"Sora," Kairi says in a crushed voice. "Everyone thinks you're coming home. They've been so worried."

"Aw there's no need to worry," Goofy says leaning towards Sora to be in view of the camera. Riku and Kairi's eyes widen in shock. "We've got Sora's back."

"Yeah," Donald says leaning in as well. "Heartless don't stand a chance against us!"

Sora smiles sheepishly at Riku and Kairi who are too shocked to speak. "Don't worry about me," he says. "I'll be fine. And I'll let you know when I find something, okay?"

"Sora-" Riku starts to say, a hard edge to his voice, but before he can, Sora ends the call and leans back in his seat with a groan.

For a moment there is silence in the cockpit. Then Donald asks, "So is Kairi your girlfriend?"

"What!" Sora jerks in surprise and accidentally makes the ship turn sharply. "N-no. We're just friends. Why would you think…"

Grumbling as Sora rights the ship, Donald replies, "You were practically drooling over her."

"Was not!" Sora blushes, hoping Donald was lying. He isn't really that obvious in front of Kairi, is her? "She's not my girlfriend," he mutters, trying to force the color out of his cheeks.

Thankfully at that moment the radar starts beeping and Hollow Bastion comes into view. It is a large world dominated mostly by an old castle now crumbling in disrepair. Moving the ship closer, Sora presses the button that puts it in park. It hovers at a perfect standstill and Sora unbuckles his seat belt. Donald and Goofy do the same and the three of them walk to the green circle on the floor at the center of the cockpit. With the three of them standing on it, it begins to glow brighter and brighter. Sora closes his eyes as the warm green light engulfs and when he blinks them back open he is standing on rough cobblestones of the broken city outside the large castle. He looks down to see a green circle at his feet, just like Cid's book had said.

"Who would live in a dump like this?" Donald asks, scowling at the abandoned city around them.

Sora shrugs. It doesn't seem like the kind of place anyone would want to spend any time in, but Master Yen Sid had said someone was here that could help him so he picks a direction and starts walking. "He's got to be around here somewhere," he says peering into the open doorways of what had once been houses and shops that line the street.

Donald and Goofy fall into step beside him. "Garwsh, what do you think happened to this place?" Goofy asks nervously looking down dark side alleys.

"Maybe it was the heartless," Donald suggests and as if responding to his words, Neoshadow heartless suddenly rise from the ground. The three jump and move closer together as the heartless form a ring around them, blocking them in on all sides. Sora summons his keyblade in a flash of light. Goofy and Donald glance admiringly at it before summoning their own weapons, a shield and a staff respectively.

More Neoshadows appear behind the first ones, swelling the ranks. Sora pales, seeing how many had them surrounded, but never one to give up he only grips his keyblade tighter and prepares himself for the first attack. It comes quickly, the first row of Neoshadows rushing forward all together and scratching at the trio with their sharp claws.

Sora knocks several back with one swing, but more take their place. He slashes at them, cutting and hacking with no finesse, just trying to keep those claws from digging into him. Beside him he can hear Donald shouting out attack spells and out of the corner of his eye he can see several heartless disappear in a fireball.

Stabbing through a heartless on his right, Sora isn't fast enough to block another slashing at him. He feels the sharp claw leaving a deep gash on his arm and with a gasp he turns to kill it. He is beaten to the hit by Goofy smashing his shield into the Neoshadow with enough force to turn it into a pink heart that floats away. Sora meets Goofy's eyes with a brief nod of thanks before another heartless lunges at him and he turns away to fight it off.

The pain in his arm is throbbing. He calls out, "Thundaga!" and a strike of lightning throws back the heartless closest to him, giving him a second break. "Cur-" he starts to say, but before he can the green light of a healing spell not his own falls on him. "Thanks," he says to Donald as the cut on his arm heals immediately. Donald nods and fires a blast of ice into the swarm of heartless, knocking them back and turning several to hearts.

Despite the overwhelming numbers, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are able to hold their own against the Neoshadows and after what feels an eternity of fighting off an unending black wave, only about ten heartless remain. Sora is grappling with one and sees two out of the corner of his eye try to run down an alley. A silver sword comes around the corner and slices through both, killing them in one blow. Before Sora can see who is on the other end of the sword, the Neoshadow he is fighting slashes at him and he is forced to turn his attention back to it.

Finishing it with a blow to the head, Sora spins to face the final heartless. He raises his sword in an overhead attack, but before he can swing his keyblade, a sword stabs the heartless from behind and it fades into a pink heart that rises into the air.

Sora watches it for a moment before turning his eyes back to the man in front of him. His face splits into a wide grin as he takes in the familiar wild black hair and blue eyes. "Zack!"

"What are you doing here, Sora?" Zack demands, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him slightly.

Sora's grin falters at the anger in Zack's voice. "I...I'm here to-" He cuts himself off as he sees more Neoshadows appear out of the ground behind Zack.

Zack glances over his shoulder and spots the heartless. "Damn it," Zack says. "C'mon. It's not safe here." Tightening his grip on Sora's jacket, he drags him off down the alley he had come out of with Goofy and Donald hurrying after them.

* * *

**Zack! Did you know it was going to be him Yen Sid was sending Sora to?**

**Yay! Christmas break! Merry Christmas to everyone! My present to you all is an insanely fluffy AU short story about Ven and Zack that is totally unrelated to **_**The Dark Seeker Saga**_**. It's called **_**Winter Wonderland**_ **if you're interested. **

**In other news, I have officially finished the college application process. Yay me! NEVER want to do that again. Supplements = worst thing in the world. **

**Not sure when I'll be able to write and post the next chapter with the holidays, but I'll try and get at least one out before the new year. **


	6. A Scheme Ten Years in the Making

Chapter 6 _A Scheme Ten Years in the Making_

As they hurry down the streets of Hollow Bastion, Sora keeps his eyes locked on Zack. He looks different from the last time Sora saw him. His hair is shorter and in a messy style that left a few pieces hanging in his eyes. He is dressed for fighting in dark blue combat pants stuffed into black boots. Over top a blue sleeveless shirt he wears shoulder armor that is scuffed and dented. The hand still holding tightly to Sora's jacket is gloved and on Zack's muscular arm Sora can see half healed battle scars.

"Where are we going?" Sora asks as Zack drags him around a corner.

"Some place the heartless haven't gotten to yet," Zack replies. A single Soldier heartless comes running at them and with practiced ease, Zack stabs through it without breaking his hurried stride.

Running behind Sora and Zack, Goofy asks, "Why do you stay on this world if there are so many heartless?"

Zack glances over his shoulder. "And who are you?"

"I'm Goofy, one of King Mickey's Royal Knights and he's Donald, the Royal Magician ," Goofy replies, pointing to himself and then to Donald.

"You're from Mickey's home world?" Zack says in surprise.

"You know King Mickey?" Donald says. "Have you seen him?"

"Not in some time," Zack says. He peers around one corner and seeing it deserted hurries forward. Sora tries to slip out of his grip, but Zack narrows his eyes at him and tightens the hand on his jacket. "To answer your question, I stay in Hollow Bastion because I'm working on something here."

"Does it have to do with Ven?" Sora asks. "Master Yen Sid didn't exactly explain everything." He immediately regrets bringing up Ven as the muscles in Zack's face tighten, drawing his eyebrows together.

Sora can hear the pain in Zack's voice when he replies, "Yes."

Zack doesn't elaborate and Sora refrains from asking anymore questions. Donald and Goofy follow them in silence, exchanging a glance with each other.

"It's this way," Zack say quietly, heading down an alley that brings them right to the castle at the center of the city. The wall the alley backs against has a crack in it large enough for someone to slip through. Zack lets go of Sora and motions for him to go first. Giving him a slightly apprehensive look, Sora ducks his head and squeezes through the crack, trying not to think of the crumbling castle falling in on him as he enters what must have been a hallway of the once grand structure.

Donald and Goofy follow him with Zack coming in last. They let Zack take the lead again, following him down dim hallways where the only light came cracked lamps on the walls. No one speaks and the only sounds are their footsteps on the tiled floor. The hallways of the old castle are almost maze like and completely underground. Zack seems to know where they are going and in less than a minute they come to a stop before a door. Opening it, Zack goes in and the other three follow him, blinking in the brightly lit space.

"The ruler of this world before it fell to darkness was a brilliant researcher named Ansem the Wise," Zack says glancing around the room. "This was his study."

For a moment, Sora can picture the room as it once was, with shelves stacked neatly with books and immaculate diagrams hanging on the walls. Now the walls are bare and dirty. Shelves are broken and books lie on the floor. A painting leans against one wall, turned so Sora can only see the back.

"What happened here?" Sora asks.

"It's hard to explain," Zack says moving to the desk where a stack of papers sat. "It would be best to start at the beginning, before all this happened." Zack gestures the the wreckage of the study. "You mention speaking with Master Yen Sid. Did he tell you about the final battle with Xehanort and...what happened to Ven?"

"Yeah, he told us all about it," Sora says softly.

"Then you know that Aqua put his body somewhere safe, but vanished before she told anyone where," Zack says.

"Master Yen Sid didn't know what happened to her," Sora says. "She left to find Xehanort in Terra's body in Radiant Garden, but never returned."

"Sora, this is Radiant Garden," Zack says earning a surprised look from Sora. "When it was taken over by the heartless, its name didn't seem fitting so it changed to Hollow Bastion. That is why I first came here a few months ago. I have searched many worlds for any trace of where she put Ven, but I always came up empty. I decided to come here to try and track down Aqua instead so she could take me to him, but that hasn't been much easier."

"You don't know what happened to her either?" Sora asked.

Zack sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "You should sit down Sora," he says pulling a chair that had been by the desk over to Sora.

Sora looks at him with growing fear. He has already heard so much bad news. He isn't sure he can take anymore. Slowly, he sinks into the chair, leaning forward and staying tense as he waits for Zack to continue.

"I found her armor and her keyblade in the basement here," he finally says. "It was the only trace that she had been here at all."

"Her armor and her keyblade?" Sora repeated, trying to understand what Zack is telling him. "Why would she leave them here?" Zack doesn't reply and just lowers his head. Realization hits Sora like a punch to the gut. She wouldn't just leave her keyblade behind. She wouldn't just disappear when Ven needed her most. She had come to this world to battle Xehanort and the fact that she had never returned could only mean one thing. "No…" Sora leaning back in his chair. "Aqua...is she...did she lose?"

"Xehanort won their battle," Zack said, spitting the words out like it hurt him to say it. "And we can only assume the worst about Aqua." Getting to his feet, Zack walks across the room, leaving Sora to try and make sense of it all.

A hand on Sora's shoulder makes him look up. "I'm sorry about your friend Sora," Goofy says in a comforting voice.

"Yeah, me too," Donald says. "I only met her once, but she seemed like a good person."

"She was," Sora says softly. He frowns, thinking about his words. "She is a good person," he says lifting his head up. "And I don't believe she is gone forever. She's out there somewhere and she's strong enough to make it back someday."

"I hope you're right Sora," Zack says in a voice that makes it clear he isn't as confident as Sora. Sora looks over to see him standing by the turned around painting. "But there is something else you need to know. It's about Terra." With that, he spins the painting around and Sora's mouth drops open at the sight.

It's undeniably Terra. But his hair is silver and he has the yellow eyes of a much eviler man.

"That's not- who?" Sora says jumping to his feet and pointing a shaking finger at the portrait.

"Aqua told Master Yen Sid that Terra had been possessed by Xehanort," Zack says, returning the painting to its position facing the wall. "The man, Xehanort, you see was the result. He was also an apprentice to Ansem the Wise after Aqua's disappearance. This painting is more evidence to the fact that Xehanort was the victor of his battle with Aqua."

Sora closes his eyes and bites his lip so hard he nearly draws blood. How could Terra, the friendly, laughing Terra of his memories, be possessed by such an evil man? He opens his eyes and in strained voice, Sora forces himself to ask, "And what of him?" He gestures to the painting. "Do we know where he is?"

Zack slowly shakes his head. "Xehanort lived here less than a year under Ansem the Wise. During that time he helped with Ansem the Wise's research into the power of hearts," Zack says, sitting on the edge of the desk facing Sora. "However, from what I understand, Xehanort started looking deeper into the darker corners of the heart against Ansem the Wise's wishes. It had been proven that heartless are born of a person's lost heart. Xehanort's theory was that along with heartless being created, something he called a nobody was also formed from the body. In an effort to understand, Xehanort undertook a horrific experiment to create nobodies of himself and a few others. The man in this painting no longer exists. He was killed and split into a heartless and a nobody."

Sora stares at him in astonishment for a moment before asking, "How do you know all this?"

Zack gets to his feet and moves to a blank wall next to the desk. "This way," he says and presses his palm against the wall. Sora hadn't been able to see a switch there, but when Zack touches the wall, there is the whirling of gears and a loud click. The wall swings open like a door that Sora follows Zack through with a look of awe.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy go to the railing of the glass walkway they are on and look down at an enormous room full of rust machinery on the walls. "Those machines were used to fabricate heartless for Ansem the Wise's research," Zack says giving the machinery a glance. "It doesn't work anymore. I made sure of that."

Zack opens another door and Sora, Donald, and Goofy hurry after him. A large computer takes up one wall with a window that looks over the machinery bay below. On the wall opposite the computer is a complex device with a glowing center. "What is that?" Sora says.

"That is a digital transporter."

Sora jumps at a new voice. Whirling around, he falls into a battle stance, ready to summon his keyblade at a moments notice. Goofy and Donald do the same, but Zack beckons him over. "Come here Sora."

Confused, Sora slowly walks over to Zack glancing around in case someone is lurking in the corners. "Meet Tron," Zack says gesturing the computer screen.

Sora looks at the screen which is a blank desktop then back at Zack. "Huh?"

"Greetings new users," the voice says again and Sora's eyes turn back to the computer. The voice is definitely coming through the speakers.

"Tron, this is Sora, Donald, and Goofy," Zack says. "They are looking for the same information I am. Do you have any new data to report."

"I do indeed Zack," the computer, Tron, says. A loading bar appears at the top right corner of the screen. It is only at 4%. "This file was buried deep inside the dataspace. As you can see, it is encrypted. I will be able to crack it, but it may take some time."

"Alright," Zack says nodding. "Do you anything about the file? Does it have a name?"

"The name is encrypted as well," Tron replies. "However, I can tell you that it was created by User Xehanort."

"Xehanort?" Sora says, still confused, but tensing at the name.

Zack turns to him. "When Xehanort was an apprentice under Ansem the Wise, he used this computer to store many files. Most are research on hearts, heartless, and nobodies, but some of it concerns Xehanort's plan to turn himself and the other apprentices into heartless and nobodies. Since finding this, I've been going through everything stored in the computer. With Tron's help of course."

Sora puts his arms behind his head and leans back. "So...the Xehanort you are talking about is really old Xehanort who fought with Ven and the others possessing Terra's body?" Sora says trying to make sense of everything Zack is trying to tell him. Zack nods and Sora continues. "And this new Xehanort killed himself to make himself a heartless and a nobody? So where are they?"

Sora lets his arms drops and looks to Zack for an explanation. Zack moves to the keyboard at the computer and starts to type too fast for Sora to keep up. The screen changes to the feed from multiple video cameras both inside and outside the castle. Some are just fuzzy screens, but most are still working, showing empty and dark rooms.

"Tron," Zack says to the computer. "Can you the video you put together of Xehanort's demise."

"Of course," Tron says and a new screen opens. It starts off black, but then turns into the view of the machinery bay below. The time stamp shows this was recorded a little less than ten years ago. For a moment nothing happens and then two boys coming running up a set of stairs, one with red hair and one with blue. The video has no sound so all Sora can see are their mouths moving. They race out of frame as someone else comes up from below. Sora can't help but gasp at the sight of Xehanort. He looks so much like Terra, but even in the bad quality video, Sora can see Xehanort's evil yellow eyes and the silver hair. Xehanort walks calmly and in his hand is a monstrous keyblade the tip of which is stained with blood.

The picture jumps to a feed from the same computer room they are in at the present to see the two boys run in, startling the blond man working on the computer. Xehanort enters and the boys cower in fear. The blond man doesn't seem scared and turns his back on Xehanort. It is a mistake as Xehanort raises his keyblade to strike the blond man.

Sora cringes in the expectation of the deadly attack, but Zack taps a button and the video freezes just before. "It's really graphic," Zack says and Sora looks at him in surprise. "Maybe it's better if you don't see it."

"I can handle it," Sora says reaching around Zack to start the video again. He cringes at the death of the blond man at Xehanort's hand. He continues to watch with wide eyes as the two boys escape only for a man with dreadlocks to meet the same end as the blond man.

"That's Ansem the Wise," Zack says when the video cuts to Xehanort confronting a blond man with orange eyes in the office they had just left. They argue for a few minutes, but the silent video makes it impossible to know what they are talking about. Just when Sora thinks Xehanort is going to stab Ansem the Wise like the others, the door to his office opens and a group of six enters, including the two boys from before.

A black portal appears behind Ansem the Wise and he disappears into it. Xehanort seems unbothered by his disappearance and turns to the newcomers. The two boys from before and two other younger boys seem to be in the custody of a teenage boy and a man wearing the same uniform as the man with the dreadlocks who had been killed.

The camera jumps back to the computer room as they all enter. The four captive boys are forced to stand before Xehanort. A moment later, Xehanort slaps the smallest one with the slate colored hair falling in his eyes. The dirty blond boy jumps in front of the small boy, taking the deadly blow from the keyblade meant for his friend.

Sora gasps and hears Goofy and Donald behind him do the same at the young boy's death. After that everything happens so quick, Sora can barely keep up. The redhead and the boy with blue hair try to escape, but both are stopped and killed. The smallest boy had collapsed beside his protector, and does nothing save glaring at Xehanort. A swing of Xehanort's keyblade and he is dead as well.

The two remaining standing seemed to have been working with Xehanort, but he shows no hesitation in killing them as well. He then turns the keyblade on himself and his body falls to lie with the others.

Sora watches in shock as the bodies start to glow and a pink heart floats out of reach. From the below the machinery room, three more hearts came up to join them and all thirteen raced out of the computer room.

The video jumps to outside the castle to see its doors blown off as the hearts come rushing out. The sky darkens as the hearts rush upwards. A view over the city shows huge heartless forming and attacking the townspeople. Going back to the front steps, a man stands there with his arms crossed and a triumphant smile on his face. He has silver hair and yellow eyes like Xehanort, but has lost some of his resemblance to Terra.

Zack pauses the video. "This is Xehanort's heartless," he says pointing to the evil looking man.

"That guy's a heartless?" Donald says. "I've never seen a heartless that looks like a person before."

"It's uncommon, but not unheard of," Zack replies and resumes the video. It jumps one last time back to the computer room in time to see the bodies fade away. "Everything besides the heart of these people were taken to another realm where nobodies are created."

"All of them," Sora repeats sadly. "But why? Why did Xehanort want to make all of them into heartless and nobodies?"

Zack starts to type again and screenshots of each person including Xehanort take up the screen. Twelve faces fill the screen. "My only guess is he is hoping the eleven nobodies he has made will become eleven of the thirteen darknesses he needs. Including himself that would make twelve and he would only need one more," Zack says and Sora tilts his head in confusion. "Master Yen Sid told you about the X-blade right? Did he tell you how it can be reformed?"

"Yeah," Sora says thinking back. "It was something about darkness overwhelming Ven. That Vanitas would beat Ven and get the X-blade."

Zack nods, rubbing his chest like it suddenly pains him. "That is what Xehanort attempted to do, but there is another way to bring back the X-blade. Thirteen darkness and seven lights clashing would also create it."

"So that's Xehanort's new plan," Sora says looking at the faces on the screen.

"I believe so," Zack says. "If his goal is for the thirteen darknesses to be nobodies, I can only assume his heartless will be pursuing seven lights."

"Who do you think these lights are?" Goofy asks and Zack shrugs.

"Could be lots of different people," he says. "Anyone with a light filled heart could work in theory. If I had to guess, I'd say he's going after these seven." Zack taps out another command on the computer and it changes to seven new pictures. Six of them are young girls, looking to be around six or seven years old for the most part. The last picture is black with a white questions mark in place of a face. "I found a reference in some of Xehanort's files to what he called the Princesses of Heart. He had gathered a lot of lore about them. Supposedly, at any given time there are seven girls with hearts of pure light. Most of them are really princesses, but don't have to be."

"And these are them?" Sora says looking at the unfamiliar faces with names under them. Alice, Snow White, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, and Aurora. "What about the last one?" He asks, pointing to the picture with the question mark.

"These were the six Xehanort was able to identify," Zack says. "It's been ten years since then so all these girls have grown since then. I believe the missing last one is the reason Xehanort's heartless hasn't tried to gather them yet. He needs all seven to create the X-blade." Zack taps a button and the pictures vanish, leaving the desktop and the loading bar of the file Tron is decoding. It's up to 10% now.

Sora fidgets with the zipper on his jacket, keeping his eyes on his shoes. He feels like a failure. Here he is, a keyblade wielder, growing up in a bubble without a care of what happens outside his little world. Xehanort, well his heartless and his nobody, has been a threat the worlds for years and he has been doing nothing. He looks up at Zack with a stubborn frown already set and asks, "What can I do to help?"

Zack studies him a moment. Sora worries he is about to tell him he's only a kid and should run back to Traverse Town so the grown ups can take care of everything. His worry proves to be ungrounded as Zack says, "You could take your ship and travel the worlds. Look for clues about Ven and warn any of the princesses if you find them."

Sora grins, Zack wants his help, but his smile slips away. "I...I thought I would stay here to help you." He isn't really sure where the feelings are coming from, but something inside him is very disappointed to be leaving Zack.

For a moment, he sees the same feeling in Zack's eyes before he turns away. "I have everything covered here. There's still a lot on the computer that might be helpful in finding Ven and stopping Xehanort, but someone should be out there looking for Ven's heart."

Sora nods. It makes sense. Zack has Tron to help him, and although the computer seemed to hold lots of answers, it couldn't know everything. The worlds need him, Ven needs him, so Sora pushes aside his selfish wish to stay with Zack and says, "Alright. Where do you think we should start?"

"If you're looking for the one with Ven's heart, try the Olympus Coliseum. I've looked there a hundred times, but…" Zack trails off and looks away, but not before Sora can catch a glimpse of the look on his face. Olympus Coliseum is something important to Zack, something that reminds him of Ven. "I just think it's a world his heart might have gone to," Zack finishes softly.

"That'll be our first place to look then," Sora says grinning widely in the hope of getting a smile out of Zack. "Olympus. Got it."

The corners of Zack twitch up for a moment. "Be careful, Sora."

"Don't worry," Goofy says throwing an arm around Sora's shoulder. "We've got his back."

Zack almost smiles at that, but then turns away and nods towards the door of the computer room. "I'll walk you back to your ship," he says and leads the way out of the ruins of the castle.

Back in the empty city, he quickens his pace and says over his shoulder, "If you move quickly, the heartless are too slow to keep up."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy match his pace, glancing back to see heartless pop up in their wake before quickly sinking back into the ground.

"You asked me before about Mickey," Zack says to Donald and Goofy. "Since you asked, I'm guessing you haven't heard from him either."

Goofy shakes his head sadly and Donald asks, "Do you know where he is?"

"Not exactly," Zack says leading them down a shortcut back alley. "He came here a few months back to see how I was doing and if I had found anything new. He spent a few days here, reading through some of the research I had found, but then he left saying he was going to explore the worlds on the edge of the universe. They are darker worlds that are usually forgotten." Zack stops and looks around. "I didn't see exactly where you guys landed. This is where I found you."

"This way," Sora says pointing down the street. A few blocks down he could see the glowing green circle that marked the transporter of the ship. They run towards it and Sora asks, "Why would Mickey go to those worlds?"

"Partly to look for the one with Ven's heart like you," Zack replies. "But he also said something about finding another ally to join the fight against Xehanort."

"Who's this ally?" Donald asks.

Zack shugs. "No idea. He just said it was someone that might know more about what's going on then we do."

They reach the green circle and stop. Sora, Donald, and Goofy step onto it leaving Zack standing alone. The same wave of sadness hits Sora as before at the thought of leaving him. "We'll be back Zack," he says. "When we find some clues."

He looks at Zack and for the first time realizes just how miserable he is. Circles under his eyes and pale skin show he isn't taking care of himself like he should. His mouth is set in a perpetual frown like he has forgotten how to smile. And his eyes are empty, missing a spark of life, of hope, that should have been there. "We'll find him," Sora says hoping the determination in his voice will give Zack some confidence. "I promise."

Sora thinks he sees the spark return to Zack's eyes, but it is gone a moment later. Still, Zack forces a half smile. "Thanks Sora."

Sora grins and the green light of the transport beam surrounds him, Donald, and Goofy. It whisks them away and Zack stares up at the sky where he can just make out their ship flying away. Part of him wishes he hadn't told Sora to go, but part of him knows it's for the best. "I'm sorry Sora," he says in a whisper to himself. "I can't have you around. You remind me to much of Ven."

He turns his back on the ship retreating into the distance and walks back to the secret room hidden in the castle. He doesn't hurry like before, daring any heartless to attack him. Right now, he would like nothing better than to take all his anger out on the little bastards. It doesn't take long for him to get his wish with ten heartless rising out of the ground. Raising his sword, Zack charges, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that killing heartless isn't going to make him feel any better. But it is all he can do, and anything to keep him from feeling useless, like a failure, is good enough for him.

* * *

**CatLoverx33: Zack! He will be back again real soon with more sadness about missing Ven. **

**TopazDragon98: Lol!**

**ShyloTD: Not a hundred percent sure what you mean by wanting to be an OC, but I'm going to have to say no. I already have the OCs for this story figured out. **

**LightzMusic22: I swear I will finish Winter Wonderland...soonish… **

**kage kitsune no yami: AHHH! Thanks so much for catching that. I went back and fixed it. The X-blade is made up of seven lights and THIRTEEN darknesses. Idk where nine came from. Also Meow Wow stays with Yen Sid again. I only threw him in because he's just so damn adorable.**

**HAPPY 2014!**

**Sorry for the long wait for the chapter. I didn't have as much time over the holidays to write as I thought I was going to.**

**Also this chapter was a giant info dump, but it was needed so I'm not going to feel too bad about doing it. Hopefully it all made sense. If not, let me know.**

**If you didn't read **_**A Man Named Ansem**_ **I suggest you go read it, or read it again if you don't really remember it. It explains the video Sora watched in this chapter. Some character motives will also make more sense later on if you've read it.**

**My New Years Resolutions:**

**Finish **_**Those Seeking Answers**_ **by the end of the year and start the third book in the saga. Finish **_**The Ruins of Radiant Garden**_ **by the end of the year. Finish **_**Winter Wonderland **_**really soon 'cause it was supposed to be done by Christmas, but that didn't happen... **

**In addition, I have a AkuRoku one shot idea in my head that needs to get written down. And I want to complete the first draft of a novel (not a fanfiction) I'm writing. **

**Wow. That's alot of writing. It's funny to think that I only started writing a little over a year ago and it has already taken over my life completely. **

**Oh yeah, one more resolution. Go to college. Yeah that's a good one too.**

**Next chapter coming soon! Until then, leave a review!**


	7. Strangers

Chapter 7 _Strangers_

"What are we going to do?" Kairi asks Riku as they leave the 7th Heaven, closing the door behind them. They had just finished telling Tifa, Cloud, and Yuffie who had been in the bar the bad news that Sora isn't coming home anytime soon and as expected it hadn't gone over too well.

"What can we do?" Riku says with a scowl. "We can't exactly chase down Sora and drag his ass back here. He took the only working ship."

Kairi gives him a sympathetic look that softens his expression slightly. She knows how protective he is of his friends. Having Sora gone is hard enough on him, but watching the tears form in Tifa's eyes after telling her what Sora had said had made him feel even worse. The two of them had left Cloud and Yuffie to console Tifa and gone off to find Sora's other friends so they would know as well. They aren't exactly rushing to tell the story again so they let their feet drag a little as they head towards the doors to the second district.

Glancing up at the sky, Kairi sighs. "I just wish we were with him," she says. "Then I would know that he's okay."

Riku looks at her, seeing the worry in her eyes. There is something else there. Another emotion to make her worry run deeper. Without really thinking, Riku says, "You like him, don't you?"

Kairi freezes. Her eyes going wide and her mouth opens slightly before she can stammer out, "I...I don't know what you're talking about." Blush creeps into her cheeks. She tries to walk away, but Riku moves in front of her.

"You like him more than a friend," he says now sure. Her face is as red as her hair. "There's nothing to be embarrassed of. The two of you would be good for each other."

"I…" Kairi can't seem to find the words. Pushing her way past Riku with her head down, she starts to walk towards the doors of the second district again. "I'm not talking about this with you, Riku."

Riku hurries after her, trying to hide his grin. He didn't need her to say it aloud, her face had been enough proof. If only Sora was here so he could tell him.

Lost in thought, Riku lets his feet take him through the doors to the second district and in the direction of the hotel. He doesn't take any notice of his surroundings until Kairi touches his arm and whispers, "Who is that?"

Following her hand pointed to the other side of the district, Riku looks at the usually empty lower area to see a stranger standing there with silver-white hair longer than his own. The man's back is turned to them and he is wearing a coat that is black at the top and white at the bottom. It falls just short of the group, letting them see his black boots.

Forgetting about telling the others about Sora, Riku starts walking to the steps that will take him down to the man. They hardly ever get any visitors in Traverse Town, but when they do it is a very big deal. Riku has an uneasy feeling in his gut wondering how this man got into town with anyone noticing. Kairi follows behind him, just as wary of this stranger as he is.

They take the stairs down to the fountain, watching the man carefully. He has yet to turn to them, but as they reach the bottom of the stairs, he holds out his gloved hands to either side of him and they turn purple with the power of darkness. Surprised, Riku and Kairi both freeze. Out of the ground around the stranger, Neoshadow heartless rise up and take shape.

Kairi gasps and summons her keyblade. Riku does the same and charges forward shouting, "Hey!" The stranger turns to face him, and Riku feels some of his confidence fade at the sight of his cold yellow eyes. Seeing him falter, the stranger sneers. Kairi falls into a battle position beside Riku and seeing her brings back his confidence and anger. "What do you think you're doing?" Riku asks raising his keyblade to point at the man.

"The balance of this town is off," the man replies in a deep voice. "The light is too strong here."

Riku's eyes are quickly assessing the man while he talks. His shirt doesn't quite cover his chest in the front and Riku can see his muscles. He looks like a guy who would be hard to beat in a fight. Riku's eyes widen as they fall on the symbol set on his chest. It looks just like the ones all the heartless have somewhere on them.

"My heartless will bring the darkness that you have destroyed back to this world ," the man says. He points down the alley that leads to the third district and the heartless around his feet race off in that direction. Kairi moves to intercept them and stop them from terrorizing the town, but the stranger cuts her off, moving so fast Riku is sure his feet didn't touch the ground.

Kairi takes a step back, glaring at the man and the heartless behind him disappearing around the corner. "Who are you?" She demands.

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness," he says. His eyes widen to a point that he looks completely insane. Behind him, a huge black and blue heartless appears, hovering behind Ansem in a protective way.

Kairi jumps back, nearly stepping on Riku's foot. He steadies her, not taking his eyes off Ansem. "I don't care who you are," Riku says, proud he is able to keep his voice steady despite the knot of fear in his throat. "I'm giving you one chance and one chance only to get out of this town and never come back." He glares at Ansem, but the man sneers back.

"I will leave your precious town as soon as I have what I've search ten years for." Ansem turns his cold gaze from Riku to Kairi. "Princess."

Kairi nearly drops her keyblade in surprise. "What?"

Riku steps in front of her, putting himself between her and Ansem. "Back off or you'll regret it," he says. The words are barely out of his mouth when the guardian heartless behind Ansem disappears only to reappear in front of Riku and grab him by his collar.

"Riku!"

He hears Kairi call his name, but the heartless had already thrown him across the square, sending him crashing into one of the benches against the side. Hitting the bench hard. He groans as he falls to the ground on his back. Clenches his eyes shut, he waits for the immediate pain to pass. He opens them to find the guardian's glaring yellow eyes staring down at him. He rolls to the side just in time to avoid the massive black fist that cracks the ground where his head hand been moments before.

"Blizzaga!" Riku shouts and wickedly sharp icicles catch the monster in the chest. It stumbles back with a roar of pain and Riku jumps to his feet. Looking around, he spots Kairi fighting Ansem. Her keyblade is a blur in the air as she knocks away each of the dark attacks he sends her way.

Kairi manages to deflect one of the attacks back at him, catching him in the shoulder. She takes advantage in the momentary lapse in his attacks to launch into one of her own. She swings her keyblade to start a strong combo move. Her first hit is a glancing blow and Ansem jumps back, shouting, "Come, Guardian!"

Kairi is following up with her second swing when the the Guardian appears in front of Ansem, taking her attack instead. The heartless is tough and Kairi's blow bounces off, throwing her keyblade back. She stumbles in surprise and the Guardian raises a hand to punch her.

"Hey!" Riku shouts, moving behind Ansem. He throws his keyblade as the Guardian turns to him. It spins end over end and slams blade first into the Guardian's chest. It roars and retreats behind Ansem. Ansem turns his cold yellow eyes to Riku and the Guardian glares at him over his shoulder. For a moment, Kairi is forgotten and she starts to starts to edge closer to their turned backs.

Riku's concentration is broken for a moment when a door bangs open down the alley to his left. Cid stomps out with a fierce glare already on his face. "Riku! What in damnation is with all the commotion!" Cid catches sight of Ansem and his Guardian whose focus had turned to him. "Holy mother of-"

"Get down!" Riku tackles Cid just in time to avoid the blast of darkness Ansem sends his way.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" Kairi yells, attacking the Guardian's turned back. She swings again, but Guardian moves fast, turning to her and grabbing her keyblade in one of its massive hands. She gasps, trying to pull it from its grip, but it is too strong.

Riku and Cid clamber back to their feet and watch the Guardian rip the slender keyblade out of Kairi's hands, tossing it out of her reach. It clatters to the ground and lays there for a moment before disappearing. "Get some place safe," Riku says, pushing Cid back towards his house. "Thundaga!" He shouts, pointing his keyblade at the Guardian. He feels grim satisfaction as the Guardian's body contorts painfully from the electricity flowing through it.

The spell ends and the Guardian forgets about Kairi, heading straight for Riku in revenge. Riku dodge rolls to avoid the first punch then strikes out with his keyblade, landing several solid hits on its side. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Kairi holding her own against Ansem with her keyblade having reappeared back in her hand. She is alternating between blocking his dark attacks and firing off attack magic.

The Guardian swings a fist at Riku who prepares to block it, but he realizes too late it's a feint. Before Riku can recover, the heartless is able to grab him around the middle and toss him high into the air. The world in sky spins around Riku and he is just able to make out the doors of the hotel before he slams into them. He falls to the walkway outside the hotel, groaning and curling up in pain. He is sure the crack he heard when he crashed was a rib snapping.

He hears the door of the hotel open. "Riku!"

Rolling onto his back, Riku turns his head to Marlene who drops down next to him, her eyes wide with fear. "Stop," she says breathlessly, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting up. "You're hurt." She puts a shaking hand over his painful side, but her voice in strong when she says, "Curaja." It's a more powerful curing spell than Riku would be able to perform and he groans as his rib heals itself.

The pain gone, he is able to think more clearly. As she helps him sit up, he grabs her arm. "You have to warn the others," he says staring into her frightened eyes.

"Riku what's-" She tries to say, but he pushes her roughly to the side.

"Fira!" He shouts sending a fireball at the Guardian which had appeared on the walkway. The blast knocks it back down to the lower area of the district. "C'mon," he says grabbing Marlene's hand and pulling her to her feet after him. He runs with her towards the doors to the first district. "Get everyone," he says looking over his shoulder to see if the Guardian is chasing them, but it is nowhere to be seen. "Tell them there are heartless in the third district."

Marlene gasps and pulls up short making Riku whirl around to see the Guardian has appeared in their path, blocking them from reaching the first district. "Get to the doors," Riku says to Marlene.

"Riku-" She tries to say as he lets go of her hand and charges at the Guardian.

It tries to punch him, but he ducks under it and slams the flat of his keyblade against the Guardian's chest, pinning it against the nearest wall. "Go!" He shouts, struggling to hold the heartless in place. Marlene doesn't hesitates and sprints for the doors, pulling them shut after she goes through. The Guardian succeeds in throwing Riku back off it, and Riku readies himself on the balls of his feet.

"Come, Guardian," Ansem shouts from across the district and before Riku can attack, the Guardian disappears.

Riku runs towards where he had left Kairi with Ansem. He can see Kairi's chest heaving in exhaustion, but she is still holding her keyblade at the ready. Her back is to Riku, but he is sure she is glaring at Ansem and his heartless that is now standing in front of its master. He forgoes the stairs, instead jumping down to land beside the fountain. The drop is a little farther than he thought, but he bends his knees as he lands and absorbs most of the impact.

He looks up to see the Guardian swing a fist at Kairi who raises her keyblade to block. However, she is tired from the hard battle and the Guardian is still just as strong as it was at the beginning. It knocks her down and her keyblade falls from her hand disappearing. Riku starts to run, but someone else gets to her aid first.

"Leave her alone you son of a bitch!" Cid shouts running out of his house with what looks to be a homemade flamethrower on his shoulder. He pulls the trigger on it and an enormous fireball erupts from the end, headed straight for Ansem and his Guardian. At the same time, the force knocks Cid back and he hits the wall behind him hard. Kairi covers her head as the fireball slams into Ansem and explodes, injuring both him and his Guardian.

"Enough!" Ansem shouts sending a blast of darkness at Cid who is trying to get back to his feet. The attack hits him and he crumples unmoving to the ground.

Riku is already on the move. He jumps at Ansem to get more leverage behind his attack, but Ansem is too quick. He lunges at Riku, knocking him out of the air, and when Riku slams face first into the ground, Ansem's over him, pinning him down.

"Get the Princess," Ansem shouts to his heartless which grabs Kairi and lifts her into the air, squeezing her until she can't breathe.

"Riku…" she is able to gasp out, struggling weakly against the Guardian's grip and reaching for him.

Riku tries to throw Ansem off, but Ansem hits him with a dark attack. At such close range, Riku nearly passes out from the pain. He blinks back the blackness threatening to close over his eyes and focuses on Kairi. "No…" he says seeing her struggle one last time before passing out limp in the Guardian's arms.

"Get off him!"

Yuffie's shout comes from across the district and suddenly Ansem is no longer on top of him. Riku rolls onto his back just in time to see the Shruiken that had knocked Ansem off him fly back to Yuffie's hand. She and Marlene are standing above the fountain staring in horror at the scene below.

Riku pushes himself to his feet as he hears Marlene call, "Curaja," again and the spell instantly rids him of the pain from Ansem's last attack. He sees the green light of the curing spell fall on Kairi as well, but it doesn't wake her.

Ansem is also back on his feet. His yellow eyes are burning with anger, but still he smirks. "I have what I came for," he says reaching out a hand and summoning what looks to be a portal of pure darkness. "I'll take my leave of your precious world now."

The Guardian throws Kairi's limp body over its shoulder and goes through the portal. "Stop! Kairi!" Riku yells racing towards the portal as Ansem steps through and disappears.

Behind him he can hear Marlene and Yuffie yelling his name, but all he is focused on is the black portal starting to close. He dives forward and makes it just in time.

The portal closes leaving the second district eerily quiet compared to the battle from before. Marlene and Yuffie hurry down the steps coming to a stop at the spot the portal had been.

"Riku?" Marlene says staring unbelievingly at the spot he had vanished.

Cid groans and Yuffie goes over to him as he stirs. "Where's that son of a bitch?" He says waving her off and pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. He looks around and sees only Marlene standing in the square. "Fuck."

The sound of running feet makes them all turn to the alley that leads to the Third District where Leon, Cloud, Tifa, Merlin, and Aerith appear with weapons in hand. All except Aerith look battleworn. The five of them pull up short looking around just like Cid had.

"Where are Riku and Kairi?" Leon asks, the tone of his voice suggesting he had already assumed the worst.

"They're...gone," Marlene says still not able to believe it. She stares at the spot where she last saw Riku diving after the man with long silver hair, wondering where in the worlds that portal had taken them.

...

The gummi ship flies smoothly through space with Sora at the wheel, but his mind is back in Hollow Bastion. He can't get that look Zack had in his eyes out of his head. He had been so lost without Ven. Sora wants nothing more than to turn the ship around and head back so Zack won't be alone, but he can't, he has a job to do. _I'll find Ven_, he vows to himself. _I'll find him and make Zack smile again._

"Sora? You okay there buddy?" Goofy asks, breaking through Sora's thoughts.

Sora turns to Goofy, realizing he and Donald had been talking to him. "Sorry, got a lot on my mind," he says. "What did you say?"

"We were just wondering what Zack's connection to Ven is," Goofy says. "He seems mighty worried about him."

"Obsessed is more like it," Donald adds. "He looked like he hadn't slept in days."

Sora nods sadly, knowing Donald is right. Zack isn't going to stop until he gets Ven back. "Ven is Zack's boyfriend," Sora tells them. "And Zack blames himself for Ven's disappearance."

Sora had heard Cloud and Tifa talking one night a few years back. It was a night after Zack had run off again and Sora hadn't been able to sleep. He crept to the stairs and listened to them down in the bar, talking about Zack having never been able to forgive himself for what happened. Zack had tried to fight off the bad guys to save Ven, but hadn't been able to in the end. Thier voices had dropped lower so Sora could hear all that was said, but he heard enough to know Ven had handed himself over to save Zack.

The beeping from the radar brings Sora's focus back to the task at hand. The Olympus Coliseum is coming up fast on their right. Slowing down the ship, Sora bring it to a stop and parks it like before. Getting up with Donald and Goofy, he goes to the green transporter that sends them down to the world below.

...

"Why do you think Zack thought Ven's heart might be here?" Goofy asks as they cross the open area to reach the coliseum they had landed in front of.

"Dunno," Sora says looking back by the scoreboards at the circle of green that marked where they had entered the world. "I guess it must mean something to Ven." They reach the doors of the Coliseum and crane their necks to look up at the intimidating structure. "Let's check it out."

He leads the other two up the short steps and through the door. They enter a small lobby, empty except for a man on a pedestal in the corner fixing a sign. No, not a man, a goat. A goat-man?

"Um…" Sora says trying not to stare at the fur and hooves.

"Good timing," the goat-man says without turning around. "Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games." He point vaguely in the direction of a large marble block against one wall.

Sora exchanges a glance with Donald and Goofy who shrug. Still confused, Sora approaches the block. He doubts he will be able to move it, but he tries anyway. It doesn't budge an inch and his feet start to slip. Donald and Goofy join him, but even the three of them together can't get the block to move.

"It's way too heavy!" Sora complains, giving up and turning to frown at the goat-man's back.

"What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little-" He finally turns and cuts himself off surprised to see Sora standing there. "Oh. Wrong guy," he says with more hostility than necessary. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sora, that's Donald, and he's Goofy," Sora says pointing to each of them. "Who are you?"

"Name's Phil," the goat-man says hopping down from the pedestal. He looks them up and down. "I'm not offering any training today. I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks. This here's the world-famous Coliseum. Heroes only." He waves them off and goes to climb back on his pedestal.

Donald crosses his arms and glares. "You got heroes standing right in front of you."

"Yup. He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!" Goofy says putting his hands on Sora's shoulders.

"Keyblade?" Phil says in surprise. He turns back to them, looking them over a second time. "I've trained some keyblade wielders in my time. Some of the best heroes I've ever worked with. Terra and Aqua. Now those two were the real deal. Even that pipsqueak, Ven was it? I could tell, he had what it takes to go the distance."

"You know them?" Sora says surprised.

"Of course I do," Phil replies. "Their master, Eraqus, would send them to me when they got to be too much of a handle. I'd straighten 'em out for him."

"You know Master Eraqus too?" Sora says. He takes a step forward eagerly. "I guess Zack was right to send us here. Have you seen any of them?"

Phil looks at his eager expression and sighs. He runs a hand over his balding head. "Sorry, kid. Haven't seen them in years. Heard about what happened from Zack."

"Zack?" A voice from inside the coliseum calls out. "Is Zack here?"

"Nah, Herc," Phil says as the buffest guy Sora has ever seen enters the lobby. "These three are friends of his. Er… what'd you say your names were again."

"I'm Sora."

"Donald."

"And Goofy."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hercules. Call me Herc," Herc says giving Sora a firm handshake. His grip is so tight that Sora's whole arm feels like jello when he releases his hand. "Are you looking for Ven's heart too?"

Sora nods. "Zack told us this would be a good place to look."

Phil and Herc exchange a look. "You got this?" Phil says to Herc. Herc nods and Phil goes to leave, but he turns back. "I can squeeze you runts into the bracket if you want to compete. It's good for experience which I'm sure you need."

Donald opens his beak with an annoyed expression, but Sora cuts him off. "Sign us up!" He says with a grin, wondering what they could win.

Phil hurries out and the three turn back to Herc who leans against the marble block. "Look guys," he says in an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry, but me and Phil have looked all over this world. Ven's heart isn't here. Everytime Zack comes we look again, but we always come up with nothing because there is nothing to find."

"There isn't?" Sora says letting his shoulder slump. "But Zack seemed so sure…"

"Yeah, I know," Herc says. He sighs. "Zack's convinced Ven's heart wouldn't just go someplace random. He thinks it would go someplace that means something to Ven."

"What does this world mean to Ven?" Goofy asks.

"This is where he met Zack," Herc says softly. "We were just kids then. It's hard to believe its really been ten years." Herc sighs again. "You're welcome to look around, but I really don't think you'll find Ven's heart here."

Sora stares at his shoes. Another wrong world. "Thanks anyway," he says giving Herc a half hearted smile. The sound of a horn comes from the coliseum. "What's that?" Sora asks.

"That's the start of the games," Herc says walking towards the entrance to the coliseum and beckoning for them to follow. "The first match is underway."

They walk out onto the sand of the arena. Phil is standing there, watching the match taking place on the concrete square in the middle. "Heartless?" Sora says in disbelief seeing the fighters in the match are two different groups of heartless. One side is eight or nine Soldier heartless and the other is two Large Body heartless.

"Yep. Weird right?" Phil says looking up at him. "They used to be a problem. Attacking people and what not, but as soon as we opened the games they took to fighting each other instead. Look."

Sora looks back at the match to see one of the Large Bodies belly flop on a Soldier, flattening it and killing it. The small pink heart floats away and Sora watches it go. Phil is right, it is weird, but if it is keeping people from getting hurt by the heartless, he isn't going to question it.

"Why are the stands empty?" Donald asks gesturing to the simple rock steps on either side of the fighting area.

"This tournament is all about getting stronger," Phil says. "It's not open to the public. It'll be easier to focus without a bunch of screaming girls in the stands." He glares at Herc who blushes slightly.

A final punch from one of the Large Bodies ends the fight and the two victors chest bump before running off to wait on the side lines with the other competitors. Phil makes a note on his sheet. "Alright! Match two!" He shouts. Reading from the sheet he says, "Powerwilds you're up! And the other competitor is...uh...he didn't give a name."

"That would be me."

They turn at the voice behind them to see a man enter without even glancing in their direction. He is wearing black pants made for fighting and heavy black boots. Over a plain white shirt he has a dark red jacket that is ripped and torn like he's worn it in many battles before this one. His hair is black and in a short cut military style with it shorter on the sides than on top. He enters the fighting area and turns to face the Powerwilds which jabber in excitement. As he readies his sword, Sora notices he is holding it back hand and frowns, wondering if it will be hard for him to fight like that.

"Begin!" Phil shouts and before the word is fully out of his mouth, the man is moving. His first swing takes out three heartless and Sora decides his strange style is definitely not hindering him. The man spins on his heels and slices a Powerwild that jumps at him. One blow and its gone like the three before it. The man takes out two more on his third swing and the last heartless tries to run away. The man jumps over it, twisting in the air to land facing it and slams his sword down before it knows what hit it.

The whole fight lasts about ten seconds and Sora stares, mouth open, at the strength and speed of the victor.

"What a fight!" Phil yells. "Now that's what I'm talking about. Alright, next up is Sora, Donald, and Goofy vs. the Barrel Spiders." Turning to Sora, he says, "I got three words for you, give it all you got."

"But that's-" Sora tries to say while Goofy counts on his fingers, but Phil shoos them away and the three make their way to the fighting area.

They pass the man from the last match as he walks off. For a moment, Sora's blue eyes meet the stranger's green ones and a feeling of familiarity hits Sora. The man frowns, like he has the same feeling, but looks away and heads off to sit alone in the stands. Sora watches his retreating back until Donald kicks him in the shin.

"Ow!"

"Focus," Donald says, glaring at him.

"Gwarsh," Goofy says readying his shield. "These guys don't look that tough."

"Yeah," Sora says throwing one last dirty look at Donald before falling into a battle stance and summoning his keyblade. "We can take them, easy."

"Begin!" Phil shouts from the side lines and the three of them spring forward, eager to fight and prove they have what it takes to be heroes.

* * *

**Do you know who the fighter is? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?! **

**I know! But then again I'm the writer so of course I know. Not sure if I made it obvious or not...**

**If not, all will be revealed in good time!**

**:)**

**CatLoverx33: Yep now Sora's all caught up with everything that's happened.**

**LightzMusic22: There will be Zactus flashbacks to come, but idk which ones yet. **

**TopazDragon98: Poor Zack is right! More sad missing Ven stuff to come 'cause I'm mean to Zack like that.**

**If you were wondering, the form of Cure that Marlene uses (Curaja) is the fourth level of magic. The fourth level isn't in Kingdom Hearts, but it is in Final Fantasy. The others can't use that spell because they aren't as good of healers as her.**

**Thank you New England Nor'easter for giving me two snow days to extend my vacation and give me time to write this. **

**Wow this chapter ended up really long. But that fight scene with Ansem was epic! (if I do say so myself)**


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